6 year Anniversary Rally against the ban on same sex marriage

I don't think opposition to gay marriage equates to homophobia. I have gay friends. I work with a gay man who is a respected colleague. My opposition to same-sex marriage has nothing to do with being anti-gay. It has everything to do with my people's cultural practice of reserving marriage for unions between men and women. Gay people should (and do) enjoy all the rights that straight people do. The earn the same, they have the same inheritance and bequest rights. We even had an openly gay man appointed to the highest court in the country. But there are some things gay couples just cannot do. One of them is to create offspring. Another is to have sexual intercourse without the use of manufactured lubrication (between men, at least). And another is to get married in our culture. There's nothing homophobic about that.

Where do you get your idea from that gay marriage is just about sex??? And I beg to say that I have done my "civic duty" and reared three beautiful children well adjusted and in no way homophobic. Yes we have SOME of the same rights as hetero people, but only as far as paying taxes to the government is concerned, if we are expected to pay the same taxes as everyone else then why can't we have all the rights that go along with it?? The government is more than willing to give us so called'equal rights' as long as they benefit from it, it is by far, a one-way street, the government expects to satiate us with giving us the right to pay equal taxes and the same protection under the de-facto laws, but that is not what we want, we just want the right to have the same security in our relationships as is granted to hetero couples. and by the way, it is not a cultural practice, it is a religious practice that says we have no rights, homosexuals have been around as long as mankind has been on earth and have provided invaluable service to ancient tribes and cultures. Gay people can and do create offspring (we prefer to call them children!) and I assure you, we do not have to resort to artificial lubricants as a rule and if so, so what? I know many hetero couples who need artificial lubrication too, does that make them gay as well?? You say you have gay friends, do you? really? because you certainly have a very shallow view of what goes on in a gay relationship. We don't love our partners because of their outer appearance, we love the true inner person, regardless of the outer gender. When the rest of the world can truly love for loves sake and not for what fits a preconcieved notion of what a few narrow-minded people think is their truth, what a wonderful place our world will be! The rest of us will be there on Saturday making a stand for our rights to be treated the same as every other tax-paying, voting person. See you there!

Gay people have more rights than just the one requiring them to pay and derive the benefits of tax. They rightly enjoy all the rights which every other citizen enjoys, other than the right to marry. I'm not sure I agree with your assertion that hetrosexual marriage is a religous thing and unrelated to culture. Yes, gays have been around for millenia as you say, but can you point to a culture which embraces same sex marriage as a mainstream feature? I can't. No, it's not just about religion although mine, Islam, does not support same sex marriage.

And having been present at some gay support meetings, I can readily see why your love is not about 'outer appearance'.