An Amended View of Gay Marriage

In the past, I've been writing about civil marriage and legal partnerships for gay couples even though I intended to support full equivalent-to-married legal benefits for them.  What I've been realizing since then is that in both Canada and the USA, we have gay marriage [in states where it's allowed in the USA] with "religious exemptions."  The exemptions mean that any church official who normally performs marriages isn't required to perform gay marriage if it would offend their conscience.--That's what I understand.  So, churches which don't condone homosexuality aren't required to perform gay marriages.  If these churches want to take a stand on homosexuality, it's their right to do so, which I've been trying to express earlier.  And I believe it's a good thing for churches to be able to do that.  However, gay couples can have the right to be married elsewhere; and they can have the right to set up their homes together, instead of remaining alone or becoming involved with numerous partners.  Therefore, I believe I can support full gay marriage, as long as religious exemptions are allowed--and I would be firm on that point.  [But it hasn't been an issue in North America, as far as I know.  The religious exemptions have been in place, without question--to the best of my knowledge.] 

My Views on Marriage/Gay Marriage

The Bible says God joined together Adam and Eve, a male and a female, in marriage at the beginning.  [The word "marriage" isn't actually used.]  I believe it's the ideal.  My church believes it and I agree with them.  Also, we don't condone the homosexual lifestyle.  But does it mean we have to be completely unsympathetic towards same-sex unions of any kind???

In Canada before gay marriage was legalized, some gays and their lawyers suggested they'd like to have the full legal benefits of marriage but they didn't mind accepting a lower type of status for their unions.--They weren't demanding to be seen in the same light as traditional marriage.  And in my opinion, marriage isn't the status symbol today that it used to be in the past.  [In other words, it doesn't usually matter if a person is single, divorced, or married, etc.]  Some other gays object to a "two-tier" marriage system and it makes them feel inferior.  But for one thing, gay marriage isn't equal to traditional marriage on the point of bearing children.--And not that gay couples can't care for children, especially if there are disadvantaged ones who need fostering or adoption.  [There are many suffering children in the world today!]

If some gays, themselves, have suggested that marriage benefits would be helpful to their lives and if they were willing to have only a civil marriage/civil union or legal partnership, etc., I don't see the harm in giving them what they want [in other countries besides Canada, where we already have the rights].  We need to have some tolerance and understanding for the lives and problems of people who may be different than we are.  [And gays have faced a lot of prejudice and problems with their own issues.]  So far, there has been some confusion because there hasn't been uniformity among the different rights for gays, including legal partnerships and civil unions, etc.  But what I'm supporting is that gays should be allowed to have the full legal benefits of marriage, without the support or involvement of churches, by whatever name they happen to call it.  [And I do feel it shouldn't be seen quite the same as traditional marriage, if I may say so.] 

Benefits of Marriage

Some of the benefits of marriage, which same-sex couples have been working towards [in countries besides Canada], include rights which don't necessarily cost a lot of money to the government or taxpayers.  1) Division of property in the event of separation, 2) Medical and hospital rights concerning next-of-kin, and 3) Protection from spousal abuse are some of these rights.  Aren't they quite reasonable?  [Of course, the more well-known benefits of marriage include possible tax benefits and pension benefits, etc.]

It's up to the government to provide legal benefits in marriage.  And the reason gays have wanted full marriage rights was to gain all of the above kinds of benefits, on a uniform basis.  The legal benefits don't come directly from churches though and they, of course, don't need to be involved.

Gay Marriage in the Context of AIDS

Some conservative Christians are still very much against gay marriage or civil unions for gays.  And some Christians will never say that God appoves of any same-sex unions.  However, it's a fact that the AIDS illness has come about by gay men having multiple partners.  Isn't it preferable for gay people to aim at having one steady partner rather than having many of them?  And if some gays are willing to make a commitment to one partner, shouldn't our society give them some extra benefits for it? 

In light of the risk of contracting AIDS, which can also be spread to women, doesn't it just make sense that there should be an alternative--like that of homosexual people being allowed to settle down with a single partner?  Sensible people are going to begin to realize this--as they have been realizing already--in my opinion. 

AIDS Orphans

An AIDS orphan is considered to be a child who has lost one or both parents from AIDS.  There are estimated to be 16 million of these orphans worldwide at the present time.  That's quite a lot!  [Too many.]

There's an American organization called "AIDS Orphans and Street Children" which sponsors children for only $12/month.  They're able to keep costs low by letting the children live at home.  Have only recently learned about this group but they seem to be reputable, to all appearances.

If people would like to have more information, they can go to:   www.AIDSorphans.org.   [Sorry, the link doesn't seem to be connecting directly.]

Dealing With Bullying

Have posted the following link in my original Waterlily Story blog but wanted to post it here as well, to make sure people don't miss it!  President Obama, the Vice President, and others at the White House in the United States have created short videos about bullying for gay youths, especially, although others might benefit also.  The videos are part of the "It Gets Better" project which was begun for LGBT people.  Here is the link:   www.whitehouse.gov/itgetsbetter. 

From experience [in another area], I know that bullying can seem like a terrible thing when you're in the middle of the receiving end.  But if you can reach out to a helpful person, it's not as hard to get past it!  We suffer when we let the bullying get to us and let it make us feel inferior.  But as Vice President Biden said in his video, the bullies are the small-minded ones!  We need to get to a place where we can find our dignity and not let anyone take it away from us. 

Northwestern Ontario--II

These pictures I took at Lake Superior, near Thunder Bay, around 15 years ago.