Quote:
Originally posted by hello_world
I agree with they should be given equal rights, but marriage is between a man and a woman. Like, equality doesn't mean you can change the meaning of a word. It's (supposed to be) a religious thing between a guy and a gal which means they can f*** and reproduce, gays can't do that. Like, just give them all the benefits, but don't get married.  |
um this is a stupid argument because if it has all of the benefits and qualifications it's literally just calling the same thing something different. if it isn't called marriage it will always be looked at as gross and inferior, because not letting them use the word with the connotation it brings just shows a contempt for gay people as if their romance can never be put on the same level as straight people. if reading orwell ever taught me anything it's that language does matter and what you call something can change everything about how people perceive it.
marriage means more than a religious certificate in modern culture, the word "married" carries a huge weight and a relationship is rarely seen as "complete" and significant unless it ultimately ends in marriage. marriage is the legal bonding of people and saying "civil union" is just refusing to let gay people into something that actually does mean something to people. it's not the same and it never will be because the word marriage has had centuries of building up connotations and traditions, all of these things meaning something to people. if you deny gay people that you can't call it equal because it's not.
not only that but words change in meaning all the time, please don't talk about language if you don't know anything about it because the way words are used is ultimately what they do mean in all practical purposes. if everyone started using "marriage" to mean both straight and gay people and the old usage eventually died out then marriage's definition has changed in all purposes that actually matter. this kind of desperation to put tradition over human rights is exactly what bothers me about the republican party
/rant
