The problem with civil unions is they are state by state - and there is no federal mandate that other states recognize them, like with marriage. If you get married in one state, every state has to recognize it... though we'll see what happens with Obama's posture regarding DOMA (the bill signed by Clinton which gave states permission to not recognize same-sex marriages).
Bingo. There is no federal mandate. And there shouldn't be. Tenth Amendment, anybody? If a liberal haven like New York wants to adopt policies that favor gays over straights, gays should flock there in droves, leaving the rest of the country relatively gay-free. Straights living there who don't favor such policies should move. The individual states have power -- or rather, they used to.
What's so difficult about this?
Yes - we'll see what happens with DOMA -- the federal law passed by a liberal pretending to be centrist and flat-out denied and refused by a socialist/marxist.
Society is often wrong and irrational about the sorts of social pressures it exerts upon people or groups, and does so to the great harm of many. So I don't know why the heck you think its the duty of homosexuals to simply sit there and quietly accept scorn and ridicule, etc, all for the courtesy of not making YOU feel uncomfortable or weird.
Here, Wilbur, you fail again to see the point. Let me try again -- and I'll type slowly so you and your buddy Christian Miller can follow along:
Society is what society is. It has a life and a breath all its own. In a
free society, intangibles like morality and values and ethics impacting the human condition (like the butt buddies and rug munchers, for example) cannot and should not be directed by government. This is where you liberals get lost.
Federal government is, by definition, a necessary evil. I believe that the fed. government has a role -- stipulated by the Constitution and limited by the Constitution. No more, no less.
When you start looking toward The Great Evil That Is Government to dictate to us what we (society) can and cannot do with each other, we have lost. We've lost our freedom and our ability to take accountability for ourselves. Without taking it too far off topic, we've seen this in the black community over and over again. Many blacks, having been told over and over again that The Great Evil That Is Government is the answer to all our problems, they begin to look to that entity rather than solve their own problems using their own keen intellect.
You libs are so worried about the fudgepackers and rugmunchers that you want to throw out EVERYBODY ELSE'S freedoms because of a few who have trouble establishing their own sexuality.
Society deals with these things in the way that society does. No amount of liberal legislation is going to change that -- but I have to give you libs your due.
You sure as hell are trying hard.
Now, Wilbur, you and I have been over and over this stuff. This is, by far, your pet issue. Somebody gins up a thread on gays, and you waltz in after weeks of absence and page after page after page, you ask your questions and state your opinion. Fine. This is the way you roll.
You aren't going to change my stance on this issue, and I seriously doubt that my stance won't affect you either. So this will be my last post directed toward you on this issue.