The Conn. court finally did the right thing, and hopefully other states will do the same as CT., MA, and CA. Sincerely hope that CA doesn’t overturn the decision allowing marriage of homosexual men and women. Marriage laws shouldn’t be based on who one falls in love with. Yes, “gays are people too.” This country needs to realize that sooner than later.

“Marriage laws are an effort to regulate procreation”
so…… that would mean that sterile, heterosexual women and men should have no business marrying either….
Just another example of the impositition of one group’s will upon another. But beyond that, I would like to know (spiritually speaking), why does a piece of paper from the government qualify a union as “godly” or valid? From a purely Legal standpoint, I can see how going through the government’s paper process would suddenly make a union “legitimate”. But does a couple’s marriage in God’s eyes depend upon a nod from the government? Since when do religious people base their idea of what is GODLY upon what a government says? I think it is hypocritical for religious people to insist upon the separation of government from the practise of their beliefs but then to attempt to use the government to impose their beliefs upon others. VERY HYPOCRITICAL. Very dangerous, too.

Hmmm…I wonder how that’s working for them? That idea probably made a lot more sense in the early 1800′s, or whenever the Connecticut constitution was written. Still, that really, really was far-reaching of the dissenting judge.
The idea of gay marriage has had time to seep into the mass consciousness, so it isn’t whether it will become accepted–and commonplace–it’s when. It takes people awhile to challenge their own belief structures and begin to think differently about things that they in all likelihood accepted without question at another time in their life.
Truthfully, I don’t think a lot of gay couples are going to find marriage any more satisfying than their heterosexual counterparts have. For those of us who have done it before and gone through the messy divorces to get out of it, there’s a lot of baggage that goes along with the institution of marriage that makes me wonder whether many gay partners won’t rue the day they did that to themselves. Personally, I would rather opt for a registered partnership (or whatever it’s called.) They seem to be inherently more equitable.

I tend to be a wee bit more cynical about marriage laws in the US. I don’t think they are out there to limit procreation or even state anything really spiritually. It is just about who can and can’t receive tax credits and receive benefits.
The attempts to make gay marriage a religious issue are failing to look at it practically. Limiting marriage is not causing a decrease in homosexual couples, and it is certainly not discouraging procreation between two unmarried people. The only thing left boils down to Social Security, the IRS, life insurance, and health insurance.
The question people are asking is whether or not two women or two men should receive those benefits as opposed to a man and a woman. Should a same sex couple be considered as able to raise an adopted child as a man and a woman?
I see that not only are same sex couples deserving of the same benefits as a heterosexual couple, but I see them as being decent parents as well. In fact, a woman who was artificially inseminated so she and her girlfriend could raise a child would probably make better parents than a woman who didn’t want a child who was impregnated by a man.
The idea that gay couples in any way are a threat to heterosexual marriages is ridiculous. It plays only on peoples’ fears and prejudices rather than rationality. If people were allowed to be who they were to begin with, witout the constraints by society, there chances are would’ve been less people who tried to “play heterosexual” just to fit in society. I’ve known some who have left their spouses only to have to apologize for not being true to the spouse and themselves.
People who are prejudiced to begin with can use any religion or book to justify and strengthen their own prejudices. The Bible was used previously as a means of justifying the genocide against the native people, the enslavement of black people, and the limitation of women’s rights. It is not surprising for it to now be used as a means of reinforcing prejudices against the LGBT community. The Bible does not justify banning committed gay couples from marrying; it merely justifies peoples’ underlying fears with its teachings.
If those of us in America started to care more for one another that what we were doing in our own bedrooms then we would be taking a huge step forward. If the Christian church was just as outraged about homelessness, poverty, hunger, and disease than it is about abortion, homosexuality, and whether or not people say Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays in December, perhaps we would be closer to realizing that there is enough for everybody on this planet. Let people love who they wish and marry who they wish. We have far larger fish to fry.

Interesting topic. As I have stated before, I believe that we more than the physical body. Indeed, that which we are precedes the physical body. Before anything else we are the ability to be aware.
CWG presents that we are individualized aspects of the Creator, not separate from, but a part of that Creator. But what individualizes us is our ability to be aware. This creation of individualized aspects of Creation is the heart of creation, all else proceeds from it. I believe that at the center of our SELF we are pure intelligence, not physical at all, far from it. Therefore, there are no physical characteristics at all, hence, no male nor female divisions.
So, we, as pure intelligence, move toward the physical toward, toward all the interesting activity of the physical. We become light, we become spirit, we move toward a family that is experiencing a pregnancy, we move into the new born and assume the controls of that new born body. We become a physical human being who is either male or female.
From that belief system if love and attraction manifests between two humans what does it matter? As long as more are procreating more than are not, the species will continue. Personally, from the belief systems I absorbed growing up I play on the heterosexual team. Do I care if there is an all male or an all female team in the league? Nope! Let the games begin!
From the same view point, I also believe that the entity assuming the controls of a new born doesn’t get the title to that vehicle until birth. As long as the fetus is still inside the mother then, as far as I am concerned it is a part of the mother’s body. And therefore, she makes the calls on her own body.
Since the essence of what we are is not dependant upon a body and exists before and independent of a body, then a woman’s choice for an abortion will not cause the death of the soul. That soul will just search out another opportunity to enter the physical at another time when another pregnancy is developing.

Are gays to be treated like straight people, in every way?
Personally, I don’t want to be treated like a straight person – I’m not a straight person. I simply want to be treated like a person, that’s all.

The other day I was thinking about the similarities of the GLBT community’s struggle and that of the African-American community in the past. And the issue of same sex marriage vs. civil unions is like the separate but equal laws of that time. If it’s not the same, it’s not equal.

Thank you Neil for bringing this up and showing your support for the LGBT community. Many spiritual teachers don’t address this issue at all and as a gay man I am grateful to find someone such as yourself (a spiritual teacher, hetero no less) who is a vocal supporter for LGBT rights. Liberty and Justice FOR ALL….

Sometimes substitution helps to us see a situation more clearly.
There has been a tremendous amount of rhetoric flowing from the clergy and those who call themselves “faithful” about homosexuality.
What if we substitute (ethnic group) for homosexual? What would we have?
We would have clear case of racism and hate.
Is that what Christianity really is about?
Is that what divine love that Christ taught us really about?
Perhaps it is time all of us step back and take a fresh look at what the clergy is really saying. Do we really want to buy into their rhetoric of racism and hate?

I am so tired of people in this country thinking that they have the right to tell someone who so desires to love someone of the same sex that they arent allowed to marry.
We are human beings and we all deserve the right to love whomever we choose. I have friends and family whom are gay and lesbian and I dont give a damn what they do in their bedroom. I hope they dont care what I do in mine either. I dont think its anybody’s business or right to judge.
I say we are all people, we all deserve the same rights: Gay, Lesbian, Straight, black, purple, white, green, brown, gray, curvy, fat, skinny, short, tall, young, old…….

Neale, reading this I couldn’t help but smile. I’m reminded of the old joke that “gays deserve to be just as miserable as the rest of us” in reference to gay marriage. Marriage is not about money, its not about population control, its about two people that love each other and want to spend their lives together. Its about family, and I don’t care what anyone says, family isn’t something that can be defined by puny human laws.

A deceiver. Those who do not listen to the word of the True Lord will perish.