New York State Passes Marriage Equality Act

What do the dark red regions signify? Stoning to death of a rumored gay person? I do find it interesting that the map has German regions as being light blue: I know quite a few conservatives who are fine with same sex unions....I would think that Italy might be one of the last hold outs for this topic.

 

Pretty much. It is where homosexuality is punishable by death. The second darkest red/orange region is life in prison.

What's interesting about Germany? They are a very progressive people.

The quite a few that are fine with it are outnumbered by the majority that don't. I would agree Italy will be down on the list, the pointy hat man will make sure of that. A big problem is that it has become a politicized issue now. It is hard for a republican to get elected if they even hint at supporting same sex marriage. And not all democrats are for it either. So it will take a while in the US...

 

Next to Italy, Spain and then Austria are the next countries that are heavily Catholic. I think conservative Catholics and Evangelicals are the main ideologies that are always going to be against same sex unions (even though many American evangelicals then get caught up in gay sex scandals!). I've also noticed that whether a person is "liberal" or "conservative", that doesn't say anything about how racially/sexually tolerant they are. I have relatives in Austria, and I'm always hearing how politics are always swinging towards conservatism in reaction towards more Eastern block immigrants. I have friends here in America that are German, consider themselves liberal, and are the main folks I know who are racist against African Americans. Point is that I've seen a lot of contradictions so that it's hard to make generalizations.

 

interesting thing that in most western countries (Canada, UK, Germany, etc) so-called conservatives on average are actually on the left from US liberals (save a few wackos).

 

Coming late to this thread (I've been trying not to poke my nose into Fred's too much these days) I must add my voice:

Kudos to N.Y. for recognizing marriage equality!

The term "marriage" is not the exclusive property of the religious conservatives and homophobes who oppose marriage equality. Marriage is a ritual which the vagaries of law have linked to numerous legal rights. Permitting civil union with all the rights of marriage is definitely a step above the denial of rights, but it still leaves same-sex couples as second-class citizens.

I would favor the separation of marriage from legal standing. (BTW, I know a Christian anarchist heterosexual couple who were married in church, but refused to get a marriage license from the state.) All the legal rights now associated with marriage should be granted exclusively to civil unions, and marriage should be left to any couple that wishes to perform a ritual of their choosing, be it in a church or otherwise.

I also, personally, see little value in "marriage," considering how unsuccessful the institution is in my country.

But that said, today in the U.S. marriage is a regulated, state-sponsored ritual performed by persons licensed by the state (JPs and clergy), upon couples who apply for and are granted permission by the state, and which carries with it certain rights and privileges denied to couples who are not married in the eyes of the state, and as such, it is discrimination most foul to deny it to same-sex couples, just as it was discrimination most foul in the not-so-distant past to deny it to mixed-race couples.

And it is noteworthy that in both cases (racial discrimination and gender discrimination) the opposition comes entirely from religious extremists who are bent on imposing their religious views on others. The argument against always comes down to the claim that god, or the Bible, or the Qur'an is against it.

To deny marriage equality is discrimination most vile and a country that denies marriage equality is not a republic, but merely a religious tyranny.

I have no expectation that same-sex marriage will be any more successful than mixed-sex marriage, but that has nothing to do with the question of people's right to choose who they will marry, provided that both are old enough to make informed consent.

Again, kudos to N.Y.

 

We know you've been wrapped up in that new orange car of yours.

 

It's not just that. In the past I've gotten so worked up over topics in Fred's that I've lost my cool and descended to inappropriate language. I gave myself a long time out after the last one. Came back to post in the Tesla, Nissan, and EV forums, and today for the first time risked a peek in here.

 

You are getting soft in your ol' age D.