And Teutonic Tim: Thank you for a good apology. Part of the problem with the comboxes is that we cannot read tone. Alas.

Homosexuality is not new, and there have been societies that have approved of certain types of homosexual relationships, at least in certain circumstances. Gay marriage, on the other hand, is something new. You cite the examples of Nero and Elaglabalus having “marriage ceremonies” with men, but these were widely regarded as practical jokes and had no effect in Roman law (in a similar vein, Elaglabalus also “married” a couple of statues and Nero made a horse a Senator).

Try reading sometime and get the FACTS

Get a DAMN education and learn some HISTORY.

And it is also WRONG–a modern “superstition”–and will be seen to be such (and a rather limiting and reductive one), 150 years from now. Human sexuality is far too fluid and complicated to be yoked to this crude model of polarity. The shocking thing that our puritanical, science and statistic-obsessed scholarship is REFUSING to report is that. above and beyond bisexuality (which, in its true form, IS quite rare), most homosexuals are not such consistently throughout a lifetime, and a great many heterosexuals have a great many homosexual experiences.

In certain parts of the world, where I’ve lived, it is a well-known fact that most males have their first and some of their tenderest sexual experiences with members of their same sex. And never would they consider themselves to be “gay,” as we define “gay.”

In certain of these cultures, the strongest and most heartfelt affection that people will feel in their entire lives is NOT for their spouses–their marriages with whom have often been arranged–but for their friends, parents or children. You would probably be amazed to learn, too, that this is just as true among the caste-Christians of South Asia as it is among Hindus or Muslims.

We make a big mistake thinking that people do or even want to live their lives–including their affectional and sexual lives–like we do here in the post-modern, post-industrial West.

Opposition to inter-racial marriage was based on concerns about maintaining racial purity separation and avoiding the creation of “mulattos.” For this reason inter-racial marriage was not simply not recognized by the state; it was a crime, and marrying someone from another race even in a purely private ceremony could have got you thrown in jail (the same cannot be said of people who enter into same sex marriages). People who oppose same sex marriage generally don’t do so because they think it will result in hermaphrodites, so the claim that the arguments are parallel is more than a little off base.

It’s true that homosexuality has been viewed more or less favorably by different cultures at least in some circumstances. The idea of gay marriage, however, is something very new (even the idea of a homosexuality as something you are rather than something you do is only about 150 years old).

Wake up. The world didn’t begin in the 1950′s. Gay people have always been here and before Christians invented homophobia, there were gay marriages and homosexuality and bisexuality were considered normal. The Romans preferred bisexuality while the Greek believed that homosexual love was superior. The Roman emperors Hadrian, Trajan, Elagabalus, etc. all had male lovers and even married them.
So I suggest you people get an education and mind your damn business. If a man wants to marry another man it’s none of your DAMN business.

Digby – I’ve never been nasty to you – I thought your post went over the line, and responded accordingly. Sometimes I have a really hard time figuring out where you’re coming from because we think so differently.

I don’t know if you noticed, but I NEVER start it with him. He baits me constantly.