re: #152 HappyWarrior

Yeah there’s a lot of benefits that come with marriage. By denying same sex couples marriage equality, you are denying them the same rights that married straight couples get legally. It’s why it’s an outright lie for opponents of SSM to claim that gay couples are not being discriminated against. Without marriage rights, there is no hospital visitation rights which is huge, no legal protection in regards to testimony, etc. I remember some homophobe telling a gay classmate of mine that he just wanted marriage equality for the “benefits” marriage brings and I just remember it pissing me off for the absolute heartlessness of the statement. Of course, he would want the benefits, the same as any man and woman would.

I don’t know if you were a Boston Legal fan or not, but the last episodes really brought this home. Danny Crane had Alzheimers and proposed marriage to the James Spader character, his best friend. Neither were gay, but marriage afforded his spouse to make legal decisions for him when he was no longer able to. End of life decisions are where rubber meets the road.