Thread: Is anyone else's state voting for an amendment to not recognize same sex marriages?

Originally Posted by baby

no, I didn't vote the first time. I didn't really know about it until I read this forum. I seen a church sign that said "Vote God's Plan. One man and one woman". But I didn't know when to vote or where because noone said anything to me about it. I do believe that it should be one man and one woman but I am willing to support my best friend who is a lesbian and accept her for what she wants in life, so as to where I will vote or not, I am still not sure. I definelty don't want to go against God's plan but I don't want to hurt my only friend that I have.

What should I do?

Only you have that answer.



I found this thought-provoking :

Today you called upon Congress to move quickly to amend the US Constitution, and set in Federal stone a legal definition of marriage. I would like to know why.

In your speech, you stated that this Amendment would serve to protect marriage in America, which I must confess confuses me. Like you, I believe in the importance of marriage and I feel that we as a society take the institution far too lightly. In my circle of family, friends and acquaintances, the vast majority have married and divorced - some more than once. Still, I believe in marriage. I believe that there is something fundamental about finding another person on this planet with whom you want to build a life and family, and make a positive contribution to society. I believe that we need more positive role models for successful marriage in this country - something to counteract the images we get bombarded with in popular culture. When we are assaulted with images of celebrities of varying genres, be it actors, sports figures, socialites, or even politicians who shrug marriage on and off like the latest fashion, it is vitally important to the face of our nation, for our children and our future, that we have a balance of commitment and fidelity with which to stave off the negativity. I search for these examples to show my own daughter, so that she can see that marriage is more than a disposable whim, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

As a father, I'm sure you have faced these same concerns and difficulties in raising your own daughters. Therefore I can also imagine that you must understand how thrilled I have been over the past few weeks to come home and turn on the news with my family. To finally have concrete examples of true commitment, honest love, and steadfast fidelity was such a relief and a joy. Instead of speaking in the hypothetical, I was finally able to point to these men and women, standing together for hours in the pouring rain, and tell my child that this is what its all about. Forget Britney. Forget Kobe. Forget Strom. Forget about all the people that we know who have taken so frivolously the pure and simple beauty of love and tarnished it so consistently.

Look instead at the joy in the beautiful faces of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon - 51 years together! I mean, honestly Mr. President - how many couples do you know who are together for 51 years? I'm sure you agree that this love story provides a wonderful opportunity to teach our children about the true meaning and value of marriage. On the steps of San Francisco City Hall, rose petals and champagne, suits and veils, horns honking and elation in the streets; a celebration of love the likes of which this society has never seen.

This morning, however, my joy turned to sadness, my relief transformed into outrage, and my peace became anger. This morning, I watched you stand before this nation and belittle these women, the thousands who stood with them, and the countless millions who wish to follow them. How could you do that, Mr. President? How could you take something so beautiful - a clear and defining example of the true nature of commitment - and declare it to be anything less? What is it that validates your marriage which somehow doesn't apply to Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon? By what power, what authority are you so divinely imbued that you can stand before me and this nation and hold their love to a higher standard?

Don't speak to me about homosexuality, Mr. President. Don't tell me that the difference lies in the bedroom. I would never presume to ask you or your wife how it is you choose to physically express your love for one another, and I defy you to stand before Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon and ask them to do the same. It is none of my business, as it is none of yours, and it has nothing to do with the "sanctity of marriage". I'm sure you would agree that marriage is far more than sexual expression, and its high time we all started focusing on all the other aspects of a relationship which hold it together over the course of a lifetime. Therefore, with the mechanics of sex set aside, I ask you again - what makes a marriage? I firmly believe that whatever definition you derive, there are thousands upon thousands of shining examples for you to embrace.

You want to protect marriage. I admire and support that, Mr. President. Together, as a nation, let us find and celebrate examples of what a marriage should be. Together, let us take couples who embody the principles of commitment, fidelity, sacrifice and love, and hold them up before our children as role models for their own futures. Together, let us reinforce the concept that love is about far more than sex, despite what popular culture would like them to believe.

Please, for the sake of our children, for the sake of our society, for the sake of our future, do not take us down this road. Under the guise of protection, do not support divisiveness. Under the guise of unity, do not endorse discrimination. Under the guise of sanctity, do not devalue commitment. Under the guise of democracy, do not encourage this amendment.

-- Stephanie Finnegan, 24 February 2004

We just had a "Rally for Marriage" here in Rhode Island on Saturday. My husband and a great friend of his started it up. In fact, this is the 2nd rally they have had. The first one, was in June and they drew over 400 people.. collected over 3,000 signatures to have this on the Nov. ballot.. and to get a vote in to BAN same-sex marriage. Believe it or not, NOTHING happend when they sent the signatures to our local state house. (Gov. included).

This last rally, there were ocer 500+ people there and only 1 person showed up to oppose the rally.

A lot of gay people want to refer to the book of Romans ..but I guess they miss the 1st chapter of Romans.

Also, for people to say that "Gay people are BORN that way".. well, I have to disagree with that.. for one, why would GOD have them born that way, when it is against all the Bible says? It is a choice, just like it is a CHOICE to smoke, to drink, to cheat, to lie, to steal..etc.....ALL those can be changed.

On a more personal note.. I have an family member who WAS gay.. no way around it.. he was! He ended up getting saved, he went through a place called EXODUS which counsels Gays.. now, 3 years later..he is married to a wonderful woman, has 2 children.. 1 on the way and is a Counselor for the same group that helped him. He speaks at a lot of places and is part of his States "Family Inst. of Marriage". His past is something he is NOT proud of, but he says he will never again live that way. Now he speaks out to try to let people know that it is a choice and the sexual preference CAN be changed if you are willing to.

So, sadly, it is NOT on the ballot here in RI, but when it does.. I will be voting FOR the banning of gay marriage!

Judge throws out Louisiana gay marriage ban
Tuesday, October 5, 2004 Posted: 4:30 PM EDT (2030 GMT)

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (AP) -- A state judge Tuesday threw out a Louisiana constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, less than three weeks after it was overwhelmingly approved by the voters.

District Judge William Morvant said the amendment was flawed as drawn up by the Legislature because it had more than one purpose: banning not only gay marriage but also civil unions.

Michael Johnson, an attorney for supporters of the amendment, said he will appeal the ruling.

A gay rights group challenged the amendment on several grounds, arguing among other things that combining the question of gay marriage and the issue of civil unions in one ballot question violated state law.

The courts had rejected a similar argument before the September 18 election, saying it was premature.

Some 78 percent of those voting favored the amendment. The vote was part of a national backlash against gay marriage, which followed last year's Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling allowing gay couples to wed.

Proposals to restrict marriage to a man and a woman are on the ballot in November in 11 states: Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon and Utah. Missouri voters, like those in Louisiana, overwhelmingly approved such an amendment earlier this year.

The Louisiana Legislature pushed through the proposed ban this spring. Louisiana already had a law against gay marriage, but conservatives warned that unless it was put in the state constitution, a Louisiana court could one day follow the Massachusetts example.

Christian conservatives launched a vigorous grassroots campaign to secure passage.


http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/10/05/ga....ap/index.html

Originally Posted by flute

Missouri's read "should the state constitution be amended to state that marriage should remain solely between a man and a woman"

It was unfairly worded. I had to read it 3 or so times before I understood it. St Francios County (where I live in missouri) due to the way it was worded, voted FOR gay marriage (meaning people wrongly put "no" instead of "yes")

I know they voted incorrectly, because i know where I live. Mike even admitted to voting "no" he says "If I don't understand something, I vote 'no'"
Mike is not for gay marriage. (i told him he shoulda just asked me how to vote lol)

Fortunately, MY OPINION (actually mom's but I agree ) "At least the way it's set up, one county can mess up & it not affect the outcome"

we had many other issues on the ballot, everything went as I wanted it to.

I was so proud of that! (everthing from knockingout gov. bob holden to the casino gambling)

Just my (not so)humble opinions of course.

I didn't think it was unfairly worded at all. But that's just my opinion. Anyway, I just looked it up, and St. Francois County voted FOR the amendment. Seventy-nine percent of voters in your county voted yes, and 21% voted no. Here's the link if you want to look at all of the results for your county or if you want to look at any of the other election results...

http://www.sos.mo.gov/enrweb/countys...p?eid=116&arc=

That takes you to the page where you can select a county and see that county's results. If you want to see state-wide results, click on "statewide" at the top of the screen.

You know something,I have a friend that is in a same sex relationship and I can tell you that I will be voting against.I believe that if it's allowable that it will just open the door for other things against nature(this is not to start any arguement,but this is a thread about belief in the bible and politics,of course there's gonna be a difference of opinion LOL)I really believe that the world is in a sorry state when you have more thieves in the white house than in prisons,more sex on TV than actually happens in the privacy of our own bedrooms and where people can rape a child and nothing gets done besides a very stern "now don't do it again" mentality.I think that we should worry about everything else before we get into who's gonna marry who.Homeless people are everywhere,you ever hear of a vote to help them?Children starve I don't hear about anyone voting to get tem fed,just how the government can do away with programs that would do just that ,help them.We're all so worried that Mrs.Johnson is wanting to marry Mrs.Smith that all the stuff that Really matters is just going to become invisible until someone finds it trendy enough to be a human being and THEN it might get some attention.I just think there are more important things to deal with first rather than putting same sex marriages in the spotlight.10 years ago this would be unheard ofit's just all insane.
Whew now THAT was a venting LOL
Please don't hold these opinions against me,but it's how I feel at the moment and thanks for reading if anyone stayed interested enough to finish it.
JMO