Coming back to the old subject of gay marriage
Some time ago I posted some comments in a blog from my friend Susan about gay marriage, basically I said all marriage should be forbidden and that would make the all point of gay marriage obsolete. I still think marriage is a source of huge problems in society. We have family courts, divorce courts, you name it. Then you have the question of heritage, who takes precedence in the spoils of a life. Even the dead can't have a complete saying on what used to be his belongings. Without marriage people just would have to be more conscious of their own life and how it could affect others.
But that's old news. Today I want to be a little more pragmatic and forget that line of thinking. For two reasons. The first one is that people want to marry, whatever the consequences are and the second is because in my country (Portugal, for those who don't know it) is getting ready to approve a bill making possible gay marriage. And I am all in favour of it.
But before I want to tell you a story that was in the newspapers a couple of day ago. One gay uncle was awarded custody of the nephew because the parents are unfit for the job. That was a victory of common sense over prejudice. I am waiting for much more decision like.
Gay marriage can be a great thing for heterosexual fathers. Today a a father facing a divorce is a person fighting prejudice. In a divorce the mother is side getting all the attentions. She's the one that will probably get the custody, she's the one that probably will get the family house and will be awarded some monetary compensation for all of this.
Of course I think parents must provide for the kids. After all it was their decision to have some, not the other way around. What I am against in the fact that even before the judge meets the parents, he already decided that the best interest for the children is to be with the mother and visit the father on the weekend. I know there are good and bad fathers, but there are also good and bad mothers, and I want to believe that most of the times there are good parents. So, why should one have and head start in a divorce?
Now imagine a gay divorce with kids. What type of prejudice will be used to decide? I think it will be interesting to see...
Being pragmatic, gay marriage is a big leap for society, is a big leap against all prejudice based on sex. It will force the most traditional parts of our society to start thinking on merits of people instead of the rules of proper behaviour. Please gay people make a lot of marriages, have a lot of kids and some divorces. The rest of us should thank you for that.
But that's old news. Today I want to be a little more pragmatic and forget that line of thinking. For two reasons. The first one is that people want to marry, whatever the consequences are and the second is because in my country (Portugal, for those who don't know it) is getting ready to approve a bill making possible gay marriage. And I am all in favour of it.
But before I want to tell you a story that was in the newspapers a couple of day ago. One gay uncle was awarded custody of the nephew because the parents are unfit for the job. That was a victory of common sense over prejudice. I am waiting for much more decision like.
Gay marriage can be a great thing for heterosexual fathers. Today a a father facing a divorce is a person fighting prejudice. In a divorce the mother is side getting all the attentions. She's the one that will probably get the custody, she's the one that probably will get the family house and will be awarded some monetary compensation for all of this.
Of course I think parents must provide for the kids. After all it was their decision to have some, not the other way around. What I am against in the fact that even before the judge meets the parents, he already decided that the best interest for the children is to be with the mother and visit the father on the weekend. I know there are good and bad fathers, but there are also good and bad mothers, and I want to believe that most of the times there are good parents. So, why should one have and head start in a divorce?
Now imagine a gay divorce with kids. What type of prejudice will be used to decide? I think it will be interesting to see...
Being pragmatic, gay marriage is a big leap for society, is a big leap against all prejudice based on sex. It will force the most traditional parts of our society to start thinking on merits of people instead of the rules of proper behaviour. Please gay people make a lot of marriages, have a lot of kids and some divorces. The rest of us should thank you for that.
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