So I figured it would be timely to set out my stand on such matters, and my stand is this:
I don't care. I don't give a dingo's kidney who is sleeping with who and in what position. It's none of my business, and I'd like to keep it that way, and I'm sure most of my friends would be fairly happy with me keeping my nose out of their bedrooms.
That said, I do know some people who identify as gay or bisexual (we don't have many in these rural parts, but I know them both) and they're perfectly nice people. They don't 'identify' by wearing rainbows or gay pride t-shirts; they don't force their sexuality on innocent bystanders, they are merely true to themselves. I don't think they would want to be primarily identified for who they have sex with anyway, they would rather be identified as funny or kind or good at her job or whatever else it might be. Except by virtue of being married, I don't identify myself as 'straight', and to me making a point of the fact that you're not 'straight' is to highlight the difference and scupper the equality you probably claim to want. Just shut up about which gender you find attractive and get back to the business of being a well-rounded human being, then maybe you'll be treated the way you would like.
Which brings me back to the start, and gay marriage. Now, I can see the argument that whether or not same-sex marriage is allowed doesn't affect my marriage, but I have to admit that I'm coming round to the view that actually, it kinda does.
That's not because I'm anti-gay; far from it. You want to be gay, knock yourself out. I do believe that homosexual sex is biblically wrong, but if you don't subscribe to my religious values, it would be unfair of me to judge you by them. If you are claiming to be a gay Christian, then maybe that's a different matter, but I'll leave that between you and God unless you ask my opinion.
No, I'm not anti-gay, but I am pro-marriage. Gay couples can already get the bit of paper; they can enter a civil partnership which gives at least some of the legal benefits of marriage. Why do you need more? I needed more because I wanted my union with Animal to be blessed by God; for me, the bit of paper, the legal stuff, wasn't as important as the Christian ceremony. Similarly I know straight, non-religious couples who would be just as happy with a civil partnership as with a marriage.
Anyway, I came across this blog post recently which sums up the way I am thinking much more eloquently than I ever could. Here are the highlights, as far as my view on gay marriage is concerned:
The fact that we need the qualifer, “same-sex,” shows that in the minds of those discussing marriage, there’s a distinction between marriage and same-sex marriage.
If a societal institution like marriage can be redefined once, why not twice, three times, or as many times as we want? So in five years (or sooner), someone will want marriage to include a man and multiple wives or a woman and multiple husbands. Why not a man and his dog? Or how about a man or woman and a consenting child? Who is to say that these can’t also be considered marriage if marriage becomes a fluid term?
I hadn't actually thought of that argument, but it's an interesting point! Looked at that way, same-sex marriage, polygamous marriage, or any other variation of marriage, devalues the model that God intended for us, of one man and one woman.
If I've offended or angered anyone in the process of writing this, go ahead and tell me why, that's what the comments are for. There's much more I could say to defend my point of view, but I'm sure I've said enough by now!
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