The Simtropolis Closet

[hamsterTK 93]

the question is whether or not the very small handful of abuse situations should justify not having what can be a useful vehicle for throwing the book at some serious criminals who might otherwise get away with the lesser charges

This goes for all kinds of laws

[coolotter88 2]

all are equal?

except some are more equal than others.

[Haljackey 17,302]

Well I'm still on the fence on this issue.

I got nothing against GLBTs, but I still have a lot to learn when it comes to things like this.

I am from Canada, and gay marriage was legalized here last year with a slim majority.  This has caught the attention of many Canadians who are discussing the concept.

In general, people around here are still skeptical about it, but it seems like no harm was done.  Some people wear pins that say "Gay is Okay!" or something like that to promote awareness. 

Anyways just my thoughts on the issue.

-Haljackey

[DOXXP29 5]

While I think that hate-crime laws, in theory, have their place, they have become a political tool and can be manipulated or abused as seen fit by a prosecutor. Unfortunately, until the world stops caring about what a person's sexual preference might be, we will probably need something like these laws in order to insure the safety of some groups that have been attacked solely because they happened to be members of that particular group. Ideally, everybody should have the same rights as everybody else.

However, I have to ask "Where does it stop?" Let's take a classic robbery situation. Two crackheads are walking down the street looking for someone to rob. On one corner, they see a guy sitting at the bus stop with a brown lunch bag and a Jiffy-Lube shirt butting out half of a cigarette to be smoked later. On the other side of the street, they see a well dressed guy getting out of a 500 series Benz. Immediately, the two crackheads rush across the street and jack the guy who got out of the Benz. Now this guy was obviously attacked because he was rich. Should there be laws that put the rich guy into a protected category because a rich person is more likely to be a target than a poor guy? Should an extra charge be leveled against the crackheads because they discriminated against the rich guy by robbing him instead of the blue collar guy? Of course (cynicism alert!...) here in the U.S., the charges will probably be more for attacking the rich guy simply because the U.S. is a screwed up country and the police generally tend to treat well to do victims better than those who are less well off. I won't even begin to get into the racial differentiation involved in arrests and prosecutions.

But to answer your original question, Jammy, I think that everyone should have equal rights. A person's sexual orientation should not be any cause for discrimination or for lesser access to anything such as housing, employment, etc. I seem to be in the minority, but I personally don't care who a person sleeps with, marries, dates, etc. or what they do in bed. This is because none of that affects me in any negative way. (Or in any way at all, actually.) A person's sexual activity or orientation doesn't impact my life, so why should I hold this against a person or use it as a basis for discrimination? (I'm a SWM, for the record.) I do still find a lot of people today, (way too many, in fact) even in this supposedly liberal, enlightened D.C. metropolitan area, that sling around derogatory terms and make snide comments about others based on their sexual preferences. It makes me sick because I'm sure these people look at gays, et. al. as "lesser people" or inferior in some way. Why? I have no idea. But the fact that such attitudes are still present is one reason why we do have hate-crime laws on the books. How many people are out there who would jump in and help a person that, say, had gotten into a bar fight if the person was (or appeared to be) straight, but would just sit back and let things happen if that same person appeared to be gay? How many people would choose to not even engage in a casual conversation with someone because the person appeared to be "different"? Until everyone can look at everyone else and see them as equals, some sort of equal rights protections will have to be provided or legislated by the government. Sad, but unfortunately a true fact in today's society. 

A note for Zelgadis, when I first lived in Canada in the early '70's, I found the attitudes there to be much more open minded and accepting than those of today's Amerika. Wasn't just the big cities. Seems there was much more social enlightenment and acceptance about everything compared to the states, where "barely tolerant" seemed to be the fitting descriptive phrase. I'm glad you've found a place to call home.

[s.i.X 13]

I prefer BLTG. As in, "Bacon, lettuce, tomato? Good! "

[octaves 4]

What do you mean rights?  Why should gays have separate rights and freedoms as straights?

Homophobes should be imploded. 

[Meg 368]

Originally posted by: haljackey

 Some people wear pins that say "Gay is Okay!" or something like that to promote awareness. 

quote>

Years ago, on the DC subway, I saw a poster that said "We're Here.  We're Queer.  Get Over It."

People either thought the posters were funny or offensive.  They didn't last long.

[Zelgadis 638]

Legalization of marriage came to Canada in 2005. I remember quite well because it happened the month before I arrived.

Slim majority notwithstanding, it was inevitable anyway since the Canadian supreme court ordered it to happen.

ISF

[Zelgadis 638]

coolotter: Not that I know of.

But I have heard this experession: "Let me see if I have this gay..." (As opposed to "Let me see if I have this straight...")

ISF

[coolotter88 2]

heh, is it true that gays use the term straights as a derogatory term (similar to the word gay)? I was just wondering.

"Hey, that is so straight"

[DOXXP29 5]

I don't really see a difference in marriage whether it's gay or straight. Two people sharing their lives together as partners with (hopefully) a strong love for one another. The legal benefits that go along with a marriage shouldn't necessarily be dependent upon the gender of the partners. Why should a straight spouse be entitled to, say, insurance benefits whereas a gay spouse is not? If both couples have made a commitment to each other and are living together as a couple, marriage is that bond and that contract between them. The whole bit about a marriage being to produce kids, that's something the church spouts, but isn't necessarily the basis for two people getting married. There are plenty of people out there who are married and choose not to have kids. (Of course, for some religions, this is abnormal or a sin, but I'll leave that for another thread.)

If married straights can have certain benefits from a marriage, why should those same benefits (as well as the option of marriage to cement the contract) not be available to gays? Too many people, especially those in power, miss the point of marriage. They focus on what happens in bed. That's not what marriage is about. Marriage is about spending one's life together with a partner. Ideally, that would be a monogamous relationship for life. What happens (or doesn't happen, as the case may be) in bed is beside the point.

[Nerd_Guy 4]

I believe that GLBT's should have a right to have some kind of legal binding, but not exactly marriage. I mean, isn't it going against the seperation of church and state policy in the US for the gov't to rule on marriage ethics? Also, I understand gays being mad at the church for being against them, but didn't Martin Luther create the Lutherin Church after being shunned from the Catholic church? Complaining and protesting obviously get nowhere, have any of you guys ever considered starting a church where your beliefs are accepted? Just a thought. I'm all for equality and stuff, don't get me wrong. Gay marriage does bug me though. I have nothing against gays, they can actually be pretty helpful, but gay marriage just doesn't click with me. You guys have your rights too, though. So.....Good Luck!

[Zelgadis 638]

Just so everyone knows, I have merged the GLBT rights thread into this one. The GLBT rights thread was basically turning into the closet thread.

ISF

[ShortStraw 1]

Heh, you put the GLBT Rights thread in the closet...

[Zelgadis 638]

That's one way of looking at it.

ISF

[tohokingdom 0]

Oh, My, God.

I should hang out in the Off Topic forum more often.

I'm from Utah, so I thought I was the only gay person that played Sim City 4 with devotion.

Ha ha ha.

No one in Utah is cool.

Ha ha ha.

Lol.

[Zelgadis 638]

Welcome to the Closet. I'm from Kentucky and at times it seemed like I was the only gay person in existence, much less who played SimCity.

Come to think of it, I still don't know any gay people in RL who play SimCity... Hmmm...

ISF

[BurroDiablo 222]

I'm straight myself, I have no problems with Gay people... my girlfriend is Bi wich is fantastic when you think about... she won't be cheating on me with other guys, lol... I have no problem with her seeing other Girls but iv'e heard her talk about some guys on her VampireFreaks forum freaking out over it... I honestly can't see why... must just be me.

Nice to see some honest discussion though, I didn't even know this thread existed.

[s.i.X 13]

Originally posted by: tohokingdomNo one in Utah is cool.quote>

Especially not this guy:

I couldn't resist.

[Barbarossa 51]

.

  Edited September 7, 2012 by Barbarossa  

[GingerBlokey 30]

Ive got a new boyfriend called Neil.

And, as Boggy knows, he is amazing.

[josue 0]

Congratulations GingerBlokey!

[Zelgadis 638]

How cute! Post a pic, but only if you get his permission of course.

ISF

[Astral_JL 1]

gay, and not so happy.....

whatev

[GingerBlokey 30]

I got permission and this is my boyfriend

[6underground 11]

Personally not to sound lazy but I think gay rights is something other people campaign about. I have strong feelings about too much else (global warming, ammnesty interenational etc etc) to have time to worry about gay rights.quote>

To be honest, IMHO, it's probably because you live in the U.K that has an affect on how much you protest about gay rights. The U.K as a whole tends to be very liberal when it comes to sexuality and awareness about gay people, with that in mind, many gay people therefore don't feel the need so much to campaign about Gay rights because, by law and society they are largely accepted.

I don't know about you, but I don't think i'd be accepted (or even tolerated) nearly as much if I lived in some parts of the U.S or Australia.

[Simcitytrainer 3]

I'm gay,Shy and furry.

GA,USA.

Only a few people at my tennis lesson know.

No boyfriend. Yet X3

[Zelgadis 638]

Holy crap, GB! He looks like a straight-haired version of you! I can see why you like him so much.

ISF

[GingerBlokey 30]

Originally posted by: 6underground

Personally not to sound lazy but I think gay rights is something other people campaign about. I have strong feelings about too much else (global warming, ammnesty interenational etc etc) to have time to worry about gay rights.quote>

To be honest, IMHO, it's probably because you live in the U.K that has an affect on how much you protest about gay rights. The U.K as a whole tends to be very liberal when it comes to sexuality and awareness about gay people, with that in mind, many gay people therefore don't feel the need so much to campaign about Gay rights because, by law and society they are largely accepted.

I don't know about you, but I don't think i'd be accepted (or even tolerated) nearly as much if I lived in some parts of the U.S or Australia.quote>

God yeah, I totally couldnt agree more. I would love everyone else to have the same rights as me, thats why I am a member of Ammnesty International. I just find it hard to imagine that its going to happen.

[josue 0]

Living in western Europe makes you forget what hard it could be anywhere in the world. I'm spanish but I live in Russia, so I know very well what's the difference between a country in wich we don't have almost any problem (in Spain we have marriage, adoption...) and another like Russia (continous atacks from politics, church...). There's still a lot to do, may be global warming is much more dangerous for everybody, for everything there will be always something worst... but that's not a reason for not acting. We all are very lucky because many people thought that things had to change some years ago althought also then there were a lot of "more important problems".