Post quotes that you like in support, or ones that you want to criticize for being closed-minded. I almost didn't bother with the quotes against, but we need both sides, and it's always best to know thy enemy.
SUPPORT:
"Each individual's journey through life is unique. Some will make this journey alone, others in loving relationships - maybe in marriage or other forms of commitment. We need to ponder our own choices and try to understand the choices of others. Love has many shapes and colors and is not finite. It can not be measured or defined in terms of sexual orientation." - From the Statement of Affirmation and Reconciliation by the Quaker meeting in Aotearoa.
"Because marriage is a basic human right and an individual personal choice, the State should not interfere with same-gender couples who choose to marry and share fully and equally in the rights, responsibilities, and commitment of civil marriage." - The Marriage Resolution, by the Marriage Project of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund.
Anon: "A loving man and woman in a committed relationship can marry. Dogs, no matter what their relationship, are not allowed to marry. How should society treat gays and lesbians in committed relationships? As dogs or as humans?" Posting to an Internet mailing list; used by permission of the author.
"JRT:" "Marriage is a sacrament that two loving people bestow upon each other. I do not regard gender as an issue here. What is important is their love and desire to live together in a committed lifelong relationship."
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach: "...what two gay men do in the privacy of their bedroom is totally different. Unlike polygamy or incest, no rational person can argue that two men having gay sex is going to undermine the legal institution of marriage. Those that do are probably more interested in attacking gays than protecting marriage."
Anon, "There is no reason that the federal government, or anyone for that matter, should restrict marriage to a predefined heterosexual relationship. Because it is the right of the homosexual legally, socially, and economically, matrimony between lesbian and gay couples should be accepted in the United States. Because our country has been founded on the Constitution, in which all men are created equal; we cannot deny the basic human and legal right of marriage to a class of individuals due to their sexual preference."
And a comment made in another context, but very topical:
"Each time a man stands up for an ideal or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance." - Robert F. Kennedy, 1966
AGAINST:
"If marriage means everything, it means absolutely nothing. It will mean nothing to same-sex as well as opposite-sex couples. The current decline of the institution of marriage will be accelerated. Increasing numbers of couples will elect to simply 'live together'." - Dr. James C. Dobson, of Focus on the Family.
Family Research Council (FRC): Mark Regan, a policy analyst with the FRC said: "Civil unions are a counterfeit version of marriage that will diminish the value of marriage."
"Trixie1226:" "I believe that marriage should be between one man and one woman. Period. God did not create Adam and Steve (they just think they are so smart by rhyming Steve with Eve
). It clearly states in the Bible that homosexuality is wrong. The fact that this is an issue clearly shows how sick the world has gotten."
quotes found
here Feel free to comment or add any extras you know of.