I’ve seen these charts over the last couple of days on the box and I’m not sure I quite agree with them.

My view on gay marriage is, why not.  I don’t want to impose on anyone or any religious organisation and force them to marry gay people but there is no reason for that to impose on a non-catholics rights.

My problem with these charts that have been branded about is that in 2008 California voted on Prop 8 and gay marriage was voted down 52 to 48 (there abouts).  California has to be one of the more liberal minded states in the US and if they couldn’t even vote for it, I can’t imagine some of those more conservate states coming even close to those stats.

Do you think maybe when people are asked in public that they might say that they support gay marriage but in the privacy of a voting booth they wouldn’t?  I’m sure all 4 of my grandparents are not in favour of gay marriage and probably not my parents.  On the other hand, the right wing/republican friends of mine here in the US who are around my age, they support gay marriage (again, maybe just in public though).

What do you think about the figures in the charts below?

I’ve got a good friend of mine who lives in San Fran with his wife and I stayed with them for a couple of weeks after the 2008 election when ‘Proposition 8’ was on the California ticket.  My mate is anti-gay and voted to make gay marriage illegal, his wife voted the other way – it made for some great discussions.  

In summary Prop 8, if it was passed it, would make gay marriage illegal in California.

It was voted in with 52% of the vote and over 7,000,000 Californian’s saying that they wanted gay marriage to be illegal.

On Wednesday, Chief US District Judge Vaughn Walker ruled that Proposition 8 violated constitutional rights and I suppose by default gay marriage is now legal in California.

All the usual gay friendly folks are out praising the decision and I can’t understand why anyone would want to stop anyone from getting married.

One line of thought that I haven’t heard is what about those 7,000,000 – or more than half of Californian’s who don’t want gay people to get married?  I believe in gay marriage but above that I believe in the will of the people which has been overruled here.  I’m not 100% that I’m comfortable with that although in this case I am happy with the result.

What if it was the other way around and a majority of the electorate voted in favour of gay marriage and some stuffy judge made it illegal?

Just a thought – a good day overall though!!!

Even old Arnie said that ruling “affirms the full legal protections and safeguards I believe everyone deserves”.

Last Tuesday there were some minor elections in the US – I think that the three main battles don’t really give any indication on the Obama Presidency. I’m not an Obama fan so I wish I could take some more from the results but this isn’t Fox News – although I love Fox News expecially Meghan Kelly…. she is a smarter/prettier version of Bill O’Reily (I should email him that and see if he sends me a signed copy of “Bold Fresh” – hahaha).

One of the other things that was voted on was in the state of Maine to repeal a decision that gay marriage is legal.  The result was that the decision was repealed.  This happened in California in the 2008 election as well.

I did some reading and gay marriage has been put to a vote 31 times and all 31 times it was voted down…..

I’m personally for gay marriage – I don’t think me, or anyone else, has the right to tell anyone they can’t get married.

I once heard a lesbian artist from New Zealand speaking about gay marriage and I can’t quote her verbatim but she said “Marriage is what str8 people do – I’m a lesbian, I don’t want to get married.”  It put a different slant on things and I thought her view was a breath of fresh air.

Perhaps some people aren’t ready to allow gay people to get married and that has been shown 31 times now.  Instead of pushing ‘marriage’ down peoples throat I would prefer to see a concentrated effort of making sure that gay couple have the same ‘legal rights’ that str8 couples have.

I knew exactly what I wanted to say in this post and it has ended up a rambling shambles.  I don’t post many political posts here but it is fun every, now and then.

I had heard of the Stonewall Riots in Greenwich Village but to be perfectly honest it wasn’t until today that I did some reading about it after learning that today was the 40th anniversary.

The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. They are frequently cited as the first instance in American history when people in the homosexual community fought back against a government-sponsored system that persecuted sexual minorities, and they have become the defining event that marked the start of the gay rights movement in the United States and around the world.

By the looks of it the Stonewall Inn is now a bar (or should I say is still a bar) and you can click here to visit their website.

Although attitudes towards homosexuality has come a long way I don’t think this attitude is held by the majority of people just yet.  Take Proposition 8 which was a voter initiative to change the Californian Constitution to remove/change the text “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.”

Personally, I can’t imagine why anyone would want to uphold such a belief in these modern times BUT 7,000,000 Californian’s said with their vote that gay couples shouldn’t be allowed to get married.

Keeping this in context as well – I think California is one of the more open minded places on the planet and for more than 52% of voter to have that option I’m sure the numbers would look worse in somewhere like Northern Australia, Southern New Zealand, the US Midwest or anywhere in the middle east.

Sorry for the ramble guys – I don’t normally post about politics or gay rights but I suppose this is a thanks to those who had the courage to stand up for what is right back in 1969.

What a wonderful week for democracy it has been.

I’m happy that Obama won. Although I think McCain would be better for the US economy Obama’s election will be good for US international relations. I’m happy that John Key won the Kiwi election yesterday and I’m happy that Winston Peters doesn’t have a job today.

Two exceptions though – I’m not happy about the democrats having control of all three branches of government and I don’t get why people voted in California to restrict the definition of marriage to a man and a woman.

Overall a good week I think.

Today I’m just having a lazy one – it is just after 5pm and I’m still in bed (I have been reading and working all day but it is raining outside and there is nothing better to do). I got a camera off a friend of mine yesterday so this week I’m going to do some hiking and show off this beautiful country to you guys.

And I just saw this pic posted at WhiteSpeedos.com and I thought you guys might enjoy it. Am I nice or what?