Why are some countries opposed to gay marraige

[Coggeh]

Might seem like a simple question , but when faced with the question today about why doesn't the Irish government in particular legalise civil unions between homosexuals I was a bit startled .

The obvious reasons are conservatism , the power of the catholic church etc , but in Ireland the majority of people favour civil unions and the power the church plays on politics here has been greatly reduced and when this occurred to me I wondered why exactly are they opposing civil unions ?

The only reason I could think of is : is it more costly for the state to legalise gay marriage/civil unions etc because of the tax/benefit rights of marriage ? and is this a reason ?


Anyone have any thoughts or answers ? they would be greatly welcomed . thanks .

[Pirate turtle the 11th]

Often its people not wanted their marriage or potential marriage "devalued" by challenging the males macho status as leader of the family or there is a fear that men will be feminized and women will be masculinized in society.

and then there are people who just enjoy being unpleasant and need a slap.

[Dr Mindbender]

to me, the fundamental problem is religious scripture.

The reason goverments are opposed to legalisation is that they have religious institutions in their pocket, institutions which follow to the letter specific verses that they've cherry picked telling what a sin homosexuality is. In Ireland this relationship is particularly bad, where abortion remains illegal.

Legalisation would mean they'd have to accomodate gay marriages within their own premises which to them, would be an attack on their narrow minded hegemony or 'civil liberties' as lolbertarians would have us believe.

[Weezer]

to me, the fundamental problem is religious scripture.

The reason goverments are opposed to legalisation is that they have religious institutions in their pocket, institutions which follow to the letter specific verses that they've cherry picked telling what a sin homosexuality is. In Ireland this relationship is particularly bad, where abortion remains illegal.

Legalisation would mean they'd have to accomodate gay marriages within their own premises which to them, would be an attack on their narrow minded hegemony or 'civil liberties' as lolbertarians would have us believe.

I don't think the problem is religious scripture, but rather the misinterpretation of them. The problem is the church, and how they take issues and stretch them out.

I know many religious people who support gay marriage, and some people I've meet people who are homophobic but don't go to church/mosque/whatever often, and some are openly atheist, surprisingly enough.

[Devrim]

The only reason I could think of is : is it more costly for the state to legalise gay marriage/civil unions etc because of the tax/benefit rights of marriage ? and is this a reason ?


Anyone have any thoughts or answers ? they would be greatly welcomed . thanks .

I think that the main reason is probably connected to votes. Gay marriage is not a huge vote winner, but it could be a comparatively huge vote loser. The church and social reactionaries would always argue against any party doing it as the ones who 'let the queers get married'. They probably perceive that there are more votes to be potentially lost than won.

Devrim

[The Red Next Door]

Because they're strongly influence by the church.

[Hoggy_RS]

A comrade of mine went to a labour youth(youth wing of the Irish Labour Party) meeting in his college and asked the speaker "if ye see yourselves as a liberal party, then why are ye oppossed to gay marriage?". Apparentley the speaker was unable to answer the question, claiming it would "take too long to explain".

:rolleyes: