OpieCunningham

A "taboo" is a very worthless attribute of logic.

I see the gay rights issue as being essentially identical to the civil rights issues of the 1950's and 1960's. The majority of people back then felt it was "taboo" to allow black people to sit at the front of the bus or eat at the same counter. It was indeed, "illogical" in their mind. Clearly they were mistaken. Just as anyone who opposes gay marriage today is mistaken.

The real issue here is that the term marriage is being used as a dividing force.

For those that oppose gay marriage it is typically due to two factors:

1- Marriage is a sacred act that transcends companionship. This excuse is used to refuse to accept that two people of the same sex can experience this type of love. And yet there are fully legal Elvis Chapels in Las Vegas offering such "love" in 5 minute ceremonies for heterosexual couples. If the real goal is to prohibit loveless marriages, there are plenty of places to start which do not include the sex of the people getting married.

2- Reproduction. The concept that a marriage is not real if the couple cannot reproduce. This too is nonsense - there are millions of married heterosexual couples who specifically choose not to reproduce and there are hundreds of thousands (if not millions) who are technically incapable of reproduction whether they wanted it or not. There is no pact within marriage that mandates reproduction.

So essentially, the real issue is this "taboo". You may not want to call it homophobia, but I certainly do. There are lots of taboos in the world - that doesn't mean all of them should be converted into laws. You have the right to not marry a man due to your taboo, but you do not have the right to prevent someone else from doing so because you have an emotional aversion to the concept.