PoliFact | Print Barack Obama's shiftg stance on gay marriage

Contents:

• WHAT DO THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT GAY MARRIAGE?
• GAY MARRIAGE: THEOLOGIL AND MORAL ARGUMENTS
• MANY BRONS HAVE CHANGED THEIR MDS ON GAY MARRIAGE
• GAY

WHAT DO THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT GAY MARRIAGE?

Scholars and the general public beme creasgly terted the issue durg the late 20th century, a perd when attus toward homosexualy and laws regulatg homosexual behavur were liberalized, particularly wtern Europe and the Uned issue of same-sex marriage equently sparked emotnal and polil clash between supporters and opponents. Cultur that openly accepted homosexualy, of which there were many, generally had nonmaral tegori of partnership through which such bonds uld be exprsed and socially regulated. Relig and secular expectatns of marriage and sexualy Over time the historil and tradnal cultur origally rerd by the lik of Bachofen and Man slowly succumbed to the homogenizatn imposed by lonialism.

In other s, the cultural homogeney supported by the domant relign did not rult the applitn of doctre to the civic realm but may nohels have fostered a smoother seri of discsns among the cizenry: Belgium and Spa had legalized same-sex marriage, for stance, spe official opposn om their predomant relig stutn, the Roman Catholic Church. Most of the world religns have at some pots their histori opposed same-sex marriage for one or more of the followg stated reasons: homosexual acts vlate natural law or dive tentns and are therefore immoral; passag sacred texts nmn homosexual acts; and relig tradn regniz only the marriage of one man and one woman as valid. The Unarian Universalist church and the gay-oriented Universal Fellowship of Metropolan Communy Church fully accepted same-sex marriage.

GAY MARRIAGE: THEOLOGIL AND MORAL ARGUMENTS

G., male-female, man-woman, gay-straight) and to replace the wh tegori or ntua that they believed better reflect the actual practic of humany.

MANY BRONS HAVE CHANGED THEIR MDS ON GAY MARRIAGE

Like heterosexuals, many lbian, gay, and bisexual people want to form stable, long-lastg relatnships and many of them do.

GAY

In fact, rearchers have found that the majory of lbian, and gay, adults are mted relatnships and many upl have been together 10 or more years. Empiril rearch also shows that lbian and gay upl have levels of relatnship satisfactn siar to or higher than those of heterosexual upl.

The fai and iends of lbian and gay upl who are nied marriage rights may also experience negative physil and mental health nsequenc siar to those experienced by their loved on. The vast majory of scientific studi that have directly pared lbian and gay parents wh heterosexual parents have nsistently shown that the same-sex upl are as f and pable parents as heterosexual upl, and that their children are jt as psychologilly healthy and well adjted. For stance, 45% of adults the Silent Generatn (those born between 1928 and 1945) favor allowg gays and lbians to wed, pared wh 74% of Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996).

4As wh the general public, Amerins who intify as lbian, gay, bisexual or transgenr (LGBT) are most likely to ce love as a very important reason for gettg married. Sce then, several other European untri – cludg England and Wal, France, Ireland, all of Sndavia, Spa and, most recently, Atria, Germany and Malta – have legalized gay marriage. Why are those who are opposed to gay marriage/same-sex marriage labeled as hateful people or tolerant bigots, no matter how rpectfully the opposn is prented?