Fewer than half of Americans oppose gay marriage, poll finds

Quote from farnan : He provided a link to the entire article and mentioned the major finding in the poll. That isn't a lie. You can't expect someone to publish 100% of the information or some elaborate treatise on a fricken message board.

He linked an article that did not bother to link to the poll itself. I believe the article is suspect itself for doing so. I believe he should have linked to the poll itself.

Quote : I can understand the impatience. Just the other day, i was working with a friend who was seeking legal help because they want to have a child with her partner. She found a sperm donor and was going have the child-and wanted her partner to be able to adopt the child and make sure the donor didn't retain any parental rights to the baby. In my state, not only can her partner not adopt the child, they can't even legally have the donor sign away his rights to the child eventhough he wants to. Furthermore, her partner could only become a "custodial guardian" and would be required to carry PROOF of her guardianship everwhere she goes in case anyone questions who's child it is. In addition, if the true "mother" were to pass away, custody wouldn't automatically go to the other spouse, they'd need to get a court order--which isn't a slam dunk in a state that doesn't favor gay partnerships. Just a taste of what we need to deal with to live our lives. This isn't about acceptance. This is about allowing us to lead our lives as we see fit. It is patently unjust and unacceptable.

Ok, that is a completely different situation, and I agree it should REALLY be remedied. I have no problem getting behind gays having equal adoption rights to straights. As long as they have their crap together, and have healthy attitudes, I have no problem with gay people raising kids.

In and of itself, I do not feel strongly enough about gay marriage to take an actual position on it. But, I do not think society by and large is ready for gay marriage.

I think civil unions is the best interim option, as long as the only difference between marriage and civil unions is the name. Let people get comfy with the CU idea, and then go for the name at a later date.

Quote : I don't want to get into this particular issue, but constitutionally speaking, the gender/racial discrimination issues are remarkably similar. And frankly, i can see why blacks wouldn't like the comparison--especially if they don't support gay marriage (unfortunately, on average, blacks seem to be very anti-gay rights). Everyone thinks their own struggles were worse than what others get--because they experienced the discrimination. Not to mention some may think it dilutes their struggles when others are compared to them.

That is very dependent on the situation discussed. The only places I do not think it is really applicable TBH, is when shared living environments are discussed. Be it dorms, military, or other public facilities like showers. Public restrooms are not that big of an issue, as stalls and standing fairly close to the urinal usually mitigates that.

For education, civilian work environments, and purposes of obtaining housing (that does not involve roommates previously there), I think it (someone;s sexual preference) should not be an issue.

As to the black's v. gays thing, blacks are rather religious/conservative on this issue, and also very protective about their singular protected status. I bet they by and large think gays are trying to ride on their coat tails. Blacks often are more concerned with their own position, than actual equality.

Quote : I don't think either one of you were being dishonest. I was simply pointing out the fact that you've performed a 5 minute layman analysis when the raw data was analyzed by statisticians. Who's analysis should we trust?

I believe we should all trust our own judgment, and look at the raw data ourselves and come to our own conclusions as a result. That is one of the points of my posting something contradictory and linking to the raw data itself.

I think the article is rather biased in its presentation, particularly after looking at the raw data. After looking at the various groupings, it appears inconsistent at best, with the implication of groups not being properly represented.

BTW, it is "Whose", not "Who's" in the context you used. "Who's" is a contraction, of "Who is". The straight dude lecturing the gay dude on meticulous diction. Isn't that ironic.