Quote from the Supreme Court:
"Marriage is one of the "basic civil rights of man," fundamental to our very existence and survival."
Please read the context, Morgan. Marriage is indeed fundamental to the propagation of the species. You should know that homosexual couples cannot and never will be able to propagate the human race the way a man-woman couple can.
"When I say I'm "gay," I mean "sexually attracted to women." Perhaps the people you met meant "carefree and happy"?"
No the last part, and I figured yes for the first part.
"I've never really been in love. Infatuated, I guess I'd call it... I didn't know her well enough to claim that I "loved" her. I think love -- in the romantic sense of the word -- is a combination of sexual attraction and emotional intimacy. Lust would be more along the lines of sexual attraction without any interest in emotional intimacy."
You finally hit the nail on the head, Morgan, congratulations. And as straight married couples might say, "the honeymoon is over."
"I've never understood how one can have a "relationship" with Jesus, except in a very metaphorical sense."
One of the mods or even the webmaster can explain it better than I, but I'll say, a relationship with Christ is alive, it's personal, it makes you a whole new person to know Him and accept Him as your Savior. I do not see it as a metaphor. True, there are some people out there who might accept the concept on an intellectual level; I have not met any such people personally, I don't even know if there would be any on this board.
"And short of direct communication from God, I can't imagine that changing."
Morgan, God may knock on your door, but it's up to you to open it, let Him into your heart.
"Lacking any sexual attraction for men, I am not going to "fit" with one in anything beyond the physical sense."
That's what leads me to believe that homosexuals have different "wiring" from heterosexuals.
"HIV is not exclusive to homosexuals, even in the U.S., and I suspect legal precendents may already be in place. If not, they will eventually be made, whether it's when a gay man infects his husband, or when a (probably bisexual) man infects his wife. I fail to see how this is a valid argument against gay marriage, especially since AIDS/HIV isn't a factor for homosexual women."
I know that AIDS/HIV is not exclusive to gays; actually, it's on the rise in heterosexuals, primarily the age 16-25 crowd, which is frightening and very tragic.
As for your claim that gay women do not get AIDS/HIV I recommend the following link:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/986898.stm
"Lesbians are just as likely to get sexually transmitted
diseases as heterosexual women, new research
suggests.
"And they are far more likely to be drug users and to
have had sex with homosexual men than their
heterosexual counterparts.
"Consistent with this at-risk behaviour, they are nearly
eight times more likely to be infected with the hepatitis
C virus, Australian scientists say."
and:
http://www.metrokc.gov/health/glbt/lbstd.htm
"Can women give other women STDs? Yes.
"There is a misconception among health care providers and
women themselves that lesbian and bisexual women have
little or no risk for sexually transmitted diseases (STD). This
myth is fueled by the lack of reliable studies of STD
transmission in these communities.
"In fact, the risk of STD transmission between
women varies significantly depending on the
STD. Herpes, HPV (genital wart virus), and bacterial vaginosis
are transmitted fairly easily between women during sex. <B>HIV,
hepatitis B, gonorrhea, and chlamydia are much less likely to be
transmitted--the risk is low but it is still possible."</B> (bold is mine)
IV drug users are at most risk, but other STD's are involved. In a nutshell.
As I said, gay marriage would NOT put an end to the cruising factor; it is part of the homosexual lifestyle. Thus, you can be married to your partner, but your partner would most likely have some partners on the side. Do you see what I mean? It takes 2 people to make up a marriage, why bother marrying if fidelity is not an important factor?
I have yet to meet a gay person who has not gone through more than one, ahem, bedroom partner.
Forget about the courting part, I was going to get into that but it's irrelevant here. That doesn't exist at all in the homosexual world/lifestyle, so.....
One thing I keep forgetting to ask,
If being homosexual is not a choice, then why is it there is a group from the gay community out to teach American youth how to be gay? I don't get it.