course, i do hope gays have the right to marry, live together, get insurance and all the rest of it long before that.

but, when do you think the dream recorder thing is gonna happen? seriously. i want one.

Whadda you say, Poopies? You up for breaking out the crotchless painter’s pants and rainbow drop cloths?

My main point is, I don’t think Democracy (and it’s system of popular vote) means we can vote to ban a freedom, but that’s how it is used. When it happens the Supreme Court is supposed to step in and say, “The will of the people is counter to the will of the Constitution. The people are overruled.”
If the Cal state constitution didn’t allow bans on gay marriage and they ammend it to include one, our larger federal constitution should step in and prevent that. Democracy to me means we have freedoms we protect through laws. Yes, democracy is about free elections where citizens can choose their fate, but our Democracy has a Constitution and Bill of Rights at its core that trumps mob rule.

Any way, it’s fairly obvious in another generation most if not all states will allow gay marriage, if only for the reason you provide – money. Double income no kids. Maybe adoption should become mandatory for gays so they don’t have all this extra money to organize politically. Maybe Poops could hire some of his thespian friends from Peter Pan to be the face of his new gay friendly paint company? Or he could be a bear, wear a leather vest and ride his dirt bike to the clients house and give an estimate for services. There seems to be more than a few people in this city who adopt a “gay” demeanor or accent in order to stay competitive. Especially in the design world where a straight man is bottom of the barrel, used to haul furniture and clean up after people.

Really? Seems like a core philosophy, to me. Majority rules. I don’t think democracy was ever designed to protect minorities. What it does allow us to do is make provisions to protect them, when the people want it.

Is it perfect? Of course not. Is the majority wrong in this case? I would say so. But that doesn’t mean the system is broken. It means people need to wake up and realize their arguments against gay marriage are irrational. These things take time. Can you tell me that 20 years ago you would have fought for gay marriage? The beauty of our country lies in the freedom to speak our minds which allows for open discussion that leads (eventually) to the right decisions being made. That’s how we get to the protection of minorities.

What the courts ruled in 2008 is basically that the state couldn’t pass laws limiting marriage to a man and a woman because those laws weren’t backed up by the state constitution. Basically they were saying that this issue needed to be decided at the constitution level. Hence, Prop 8 was born.

Marriage is managed at the state level. That’s not going to change. All the feds can do is control things related to their benefits. Unfortunately, they chose to shut out married gays in 1996.

It’s kind of funny to me that New England is leading the progressive movement on this issue and California can’t get out of its own way. I suppose gay folks may not want to fly across the country to get married but they should have as much if not more disposable income than anyone else in the country. Maybe New England is making a tourism play for gay couples! Get all that good gay money up in there to stimulate the local economy. Maybe they’ll all move up there and Poops can make a killing painting rainbows on their houses!

If you want to play back your dreams, make it happen. Come to Wisconsin and start working with that group that’s reading minds in Madison. I was up there last weekend, nice country in the warm month(s).

Rolston, I say take your one year union to the streets though i think it might be better suited as bi-annual…like smog certificates. Check for your writing at a later date.