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Difference between racial intermarriage: Well, that's clear discrimination based on race.
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And what you're vigorously defending is clear discrimination based on sexual orientation.
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As I said, if the act is defined as one between a man and woman (which I think it is), then gay marriages can't be marriages.
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This begs the question completely. The entire debate is about whether or not to
expand the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples. You seem clearly against this expansion, but I'm not sure why. "It's always been this way" seems pretty weak.
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I think it's a stretch to suggest that anyone ever intended marriage to mean "between a white man and white woman".
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A lot of younger Americans probably don't know this, but according to
wikipedia , "A 1958 Gallup pole [sic - LOL] showed that 96 percent of white Americans disapproved of interracial marriage." Now, you could make the argument that this says more about attitudes on race than about attitudes on marriage, but this applies to today's gay marriage debate also (i.e., less about the marriage and more about the gay).
Fifty years ago, nearly 100% of Americans (whites at least) were bigots who thought marriage should be reserved for same-race couples. That definition of marriage has been expanded, and now a majority of Americans have no problem with interracial marriage. The debate is essentially over. You seemed to immediately agree that anti-miscegenation laws are clearly wrong, being a case of "clear discrimination". I'm not sure why you're unable to see the connection to the current debate.
EDIT: FWIW, a further parallel is that opponents of interracial marriage were apparently driven in part by a racist religious ideology, and used selective bible quotes to defend their position.
Edit#2: Let me preempt derailment based on my perhaps ill-advised use of the word "bigot". All I'm saying is that even a lot of those people in 1958 who considered themselves progressive defenders of civil rights were uncomfortable with the idea of interracial marriage, and by today's standards would be viewed as intolerant, if not bigoted. Just as many of those who generally defend gay rights today are unwilling to endorse gay marriage.