Name:   Talullahhound - Subject:   Yeah well so's you're Mom...or whatever Date:   4/8/2016 2:17:53 PM

I have a former colleague and friend who is gay and married.  Born and raised in Louisiana, he now Lives in AZ.  Has a PhD in European History and has been with his (now) husband for 30 years.  They own property together and share their assets.  Now that he is retired, he volunteers his time with a veterans, teaching them how to ride and also volunteers with kids that are LGBT that have been forsaken by their families because they are LGBT. 

When he got married, I asked him why and this is what he told me:

IN many states, the birth family can overide the medical directive and refuse to give access to, or to have a say in the medical treatment, regardless of what the patient may have intended.  With marriage, it gives legitimate status to the partner.

In many states, the will can be contested and overturned by the family, since the partner has no legal status except for those things that are mutually owned and both names appear.

Until the Federal Government legitimized gay marriage, there could be no "survivor" benefits for a surviving partner and they could not share medical insurance. 

And of course they could not file joint taxes. 

Through is volunteer work, he has told me horrifying stories of parents that thew their kids out of the house and broke off all contact with them, when they admitted they were gay (i'm using gay to mean LGBT).  They are left homeless with no one to support them.  Many commit suicide.  The are bullied, harassed, beat up, even killed.  They have no self esteem and are often prayed on by predators or drawn into a life of prostitution. 

the most basic of human nature is to seek connection and to seek love.  How do we know what is in the Bible wasn't written from someone's fear and hatred of something that they didn't understand.  It's not covered in the 10 Comandments which are accepted to be handed down from God. 

Now I understand that you cannot separate religious marriage from legal marriage.  A lot of us can.  I have no problem with gay civil unions and if they find a church willing to marry them, so be it.  So when you ask me if a business should be able to discriminate and refuse to make a wedding cake for two people that want to commit to each other, I just don't see where one's own religious beliefs should get in the way.  Because at the end of the day, the very basis of any religion is a belief in God and to treat each other kindly, and at the core, are God's Ten Commandments which don't include a statement that you are allowed to hate and refuse to serve anyone who doesn't believe as you do.  The rest of it is all stories and examples of what God might have said, written down by men, who may have very well included their own fears and biases, or desires to control. The stories are related to congregations by Ministers, Priests, lay preachers and Sunday school teachers based on their interpreations. 

My one, non-scientific or factual observation is that people tend to fear what they do not understand.  And that fear will cause them to do things to protect themselves from the source of the fear - with hate, retorts of perversion.

It's now 1:15 in AL.  Let's all pull out our rugs or blankies and take a nap.