A Long Struggle for LGBTQ Equality Results in Historic Marriage Decision

Jun. 26, 2015

3:14 p.m.

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Let’s all take a moment to savor this morning’s historic Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage throughout the nation.

It wasn’t too long ago that this seemed completely impossible.

Think about the debates over Wisconsin’s horrible (and unconstitutional) ban on marriage equality.

Think about the debates over civil unions and domestic partnerships and why they were “good enough” for same-sex couples.

Think about the anti-marriage equality legislators who’ve seized control of the state Capitol. (That includes the governor.)

Then think about all of the positive people who have made this happen, the hearts and minds that opened up one by one, the millions of Americans who now support same-sex marriage. (That includes the president.)

This landmark day didn’t happen by accident and it wasn’t easy.

So let’s take a moment to applaud everyone who struggled and persevered and convinced friends and families and the majority of the U.S. Supreme Court that love is love and we are all equal under the law. This victory is yours.

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What is the real offense to Conservatives when 2 p...

What is the real offense to Conservatives when 2 people of the same gender choose to get married? I was raised as a hard-core conservative and I was raised where I was sheltered away from exposure to liberalism. Because I did not suffer the "pain" of liberal acts happening around me, I was not indoctrinated with an attitude against them, so I am often branded as a Liberal.In the unassisted working class world I was raised in, "marriage" is seen as a personal obligation, not as a public benefit. It was an obligation born of necessity from a few thousand years of human history of unassisted survival, marriage as an institution was locked down before there ever was a government benefits system.So what if 2 men or 2 women "get married", why is preventing their marriage so important in America, Wisconsin, 49 other states? Hospital visitation rights? How does that affect other people's taxes? My right to turn down a paying customer in need of wedding services? Most employers will not have me turning down a chance to make money for the owner, a dollar is a dollar no matter whose hands it came from.Is it the tax break of filing joint? Does not hold water when both people of a couple work equally, it only helped when only one worked. "Double Income" households are pretty much a requirement these days.Is it the right to half of a spouse's social security money after one dies? Again, it only mattered if the surviving spouse was a no-W2 stay-at-home instead of an equal taxpaying worker. Not much of that in the LGBT world either.What about the right of debt collectors to collect from the employed spouse when the other one takes out a bad loan without the others approval? It seems that "business" prefers these joint marital obligations, as well as a conservative taxpayer, now making just one person responsible for payback instead of public taxpayers in general.Is it about children and all the obligations going with it? Not many people think that the answer to America's "consumer demand" problem is to create more consumers that may not have an income in an out-sourced labor market. Having workers live paycheck to paycheck won't help the the top 1% either, true growth can only happen if those who still have credit choose to max it out today on the mere faith that tomorrow they will have the job to it back with.

WaukeshaGuy more than 9 years ago

What is the real offense to Conservatives when 2 p...

What is the real offense to Conservatives when 2 people of the same sex choose to get married? I was raised as a hard-core conservative and I was raised where I was sheltered away from exposure to liberalism. Because I did not suffer the "pain" of liberal acts happening around me, I was not indoctrinated with an attitude against them, so I am often branded as a Liberal.In the unassisted working class world I was raised in "marriage" is a private obligation, not a public benefit. It was an obligation born of necessity from millennia of human history of unassisted survival locked down before there ever was a government benefits system.So what if 2 men or 2 women get "married", why is marriage so important in America, Wisconsin, 49 other states? Hospital visitation rights? How does that affect us straight people's taxes? My right to turn down a paying customer in need of wedding services? Most employers will not have me turning down a chance to make money for the owner.Is it the tax break of filing joint? Does not hold water when both people of a couple work equally, it only helped when only one worked. "Double Income" households is pretty much a requirement these days.Is it the right to half of a spouse's social security money after one dies? Again, it only mattered if the surviving spouse was a no-W2 stay-at-home instead of an equal taxpaying worker. Not much of that in the gay world either.What about the right of debt collectors to collect from the employed spouse when the other one takes out a bad loan without the others approval? It seems that "business" prefers these marital obligations, as well as a conservative taxpayer, now making just one person responsible for payback instead of the conservative public taxpayers in general.Is it about children and all the obligations going with it? Only a fool thinks that the answer to America's "consumer demand" problem is to create more consumers that will not have an income in an out-sourced labor market.

WaukeshaGuy more than 9 years ago