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For instance, if two gays split up after being together for years, they have a really hard time getting equitable property division by the courts.

This is far less of a problem than you are making it out to be. So modify the law of partnership to allow for social relations (which would not be limited to men and women whose sexual urges tend toward the perverse) as social partnerships subject to explicit agreements and equitable splits of property.

But let the law be clear: this is NOT marriage.

In truth, proponents of gay marriage are looking for a way to hijack the coercive power to government to force everyone to acknowledge their perverse relationships as co-equal with traditional marriage. That is also what fuels their drive to enact hate crime legislation.

Hey Kevin, let's get married.

My two neighbors, the women who got married by their minister, don't want the government to force you to acknowledge their marriage. They just want you to shut up and leave them alone. They want the benefits of a legal marriage and are not asking you to believe anything.

You see this as a power struggle. They see it as two people wanting what many others want and wondering why you want to stop them.

Kevin:

There are an awful lot of laws that would have to be changed to give gay couples the same protections for as married heterosexual couples. I remember having to learn about some of this years ago in law school classes. Issues for same sex couples come up in family law, tax law, wills trusts and estates and so on. Don't be fooled into thinking it's all so simple. It's enough to make your head spin. Gay couples who can afford it sometimes end up entering into complicated contracts that may or may not be valid from one state to the next and that need to be reviewed fairly often to see that changes in the laws haven't rendered portions of them invalid . They end up doing all sorts of things like even going so far as adopting one another to enjoy some of the same protections married couples enjoy. There are lawyers who specialize in helping gay clients with these various issues. It's a dangerous area for the rest of us to tread because there are all sorts of pitfalls in creating these contractual partnerships, estate plans and so on for gay couples that could get lawyers who aren't well up on this stuff in a lot of trouble.

I don't know that I would call myself a big proponent of gay marriage. While I don't mind gay people and actually know a few that I like and respect, homosexuality is something that turns my stomach when I think about it. I am certainly not looking for a way to hijack anything or force anyone to do anything. I'm just not so opposed to gay marriage. It seems that at least from a legal standpoint to be something that could simplify a lot of issues. Also it seems that it might promote long term commitments and monogamy for gay couples, which couldn't be anything but good in terms of helping to stop the spread of disease and so on. And again, whether gays are ever allowed to marry or not, my main gripe in this thread was that I don't like idea of amending the constitution for something like this.

I'm really tired of this thread and will not be responding to any further posts. This just isn't my issue and I am done arguing about it.