Normal in MA.<br><br><br><br>[color:red]&#63743;</font color=red> [color:orange]&#63743;</font color=orange> [color:yellow]&#63743;</font color=yellow> [color:green]&#63743;</font color=green> [color:blue]&#63743;</font color=blue> [color:purple]&#63743;</font color=purple>

Point well taken.<br>I'm just an resident alien (of 32 years).<br><br><br>

I lived in the Boston area for 12 lovely years. Wish I could go home again <br><br>[color:red]&#63743;</font color=red> [color:orange]&#63743;</font color=orange> [color:yellow]&#63743;</font color=yellow> [color:green]&#63743;</font color=green> [color:blue]&#63743;</font color=blue> [color:purple]&#63743;</font color=purple>

Maybe you can when you retire?<br><br><br>

[color:blue]Tell you what, you force same sex parents to jettison their kids to be raised by the state</font color=blue> Who said anything about the state only raising children ? ?[color:blue] if the same happens to any child who is brainwashed during that same 0-4 age to follow some brainwashing religion.</font color=blue> - who said anything about religion ?? [color:blue]Those kids should have a say what they are brainwashed about and should not hear religious doctrine until at least 10.</font color=blue> - Whose to say that both same genders would not present a single gender view on religious doctrine or political ??<br><br>[color:blue]Meanwhile here in Massachusetts gay couples have been adopting children and these kids have been tested and tested to see if they have been infected with something disgusting. The results: Totally normal kids!</font color=blue> -Did I say anywhere that they would be abnormal ?? I did say give a child a choice when it comes to a same gender family and I made mentioned that a child could be more balanced in values in a different gender family as opposed in a family of the same gender <-- after all as a child you do get both female and male values , in the process of growing up and maturing<br><br>Those studies you mention will continue - but you cannot exclude the "tribe mentality" which is the bottom line a bunch of dudes or a bunch of chicks raising a child - wheres the balance ?<br><br><br>

I'm 38 year resident alien and I am a totally normal Massachusetts resident. I spent my high school years standing in front of a packie waiting for a buyer and I know how to go around a rotary with no problems whatsoever. The only danger is when spotting a New York plate. In fact I am a double MA resident as I now reside in two towns. In my new town I am already on the mooring list, the historical society, have a clamming license, a lobster license and joined the astronomy club while also knowing that I lived just one dorm over from the harbormaster when in college. That makes me a townie after only two months.<br><br>If I was gay and adopted a child she could be on the mooring list too of I paid the twenty bucks. I'll take normal over weird states that get the heebie-jeebies about gay marriage and gay adoption any day.<br><br><br><br><br><br>

I hear ya.<br>Except for the "New York Plate" thing, you are preaching to the choir.<br><br>

i don't think we could ever afford to live in the Boston area, Clark. I wish.<br><br>[color:red]&#63743;</font color=red> [color:orange]&#63743;</font color=orange> [color:yellow]&#63743;</font color=yellow> [color:green]&#63743;</font color=green> [color:blue]&#63743;</font color=blue> [color:purple]&#63743;</font color=purple>

That is the biggest problem with living in Massachusetts, the high cost of living.<br>I own my home so that helps greatly.<br>If I ever ran out of money, I'd go back to Wisconsin. <br><br>

There appears to be quite a few people in this forum who have a problem with gay marriages. <br><br>My intention is to try to explain the best I can why gay and lesbian marriages should be allowed.<br><br>There is a fundamental reason why gay and lesbian couples should be allowed to marry. <br>It is all about equality, civil rights, human rights.<br>It is about the fundamental right to marry the person you love.<br>It is not gay marriage, it is not same-sex marriage. There is only one term: marriage.<br><br>Civil unions are not the equivalent of marriage. Civil Unions are not recognized by the federal government and, in everyday life, are not recognized as an equal to marriage. <br><br>Civil unions create a separate class of individuals---those who can only access civil unions. In the United States there is a long-term understanding that separate is not equal.<br><br>Marriage equality means more than just the 1,400 plus rights and responsibilities associated with it. It is also about not excluding people from the institutions that provide stability to their families and society. <br><br>Marriage is a unique legal status conferred by and recognized by governments all over the world. It brings with it a host of reciprocal obligations, rights and protections. It is also a cultural institution. No other word has that power and no other status can provide that protection.<br><br>Married couples have over 1,400 rights, protections and responsibilities such as:<br><br>1. Social Security benefits upon death, disability or retirement of spouse, as well as benefits for minor children.<br>2. Family and Medical Leave protections to care for a new child or a sick or injured family member<br>3. Workers' Compensation protections for the family of a worker injured on the job<br>4. Access to COBRA insurance benefits so the family doesn't lose health insurance when one spouse is laid off<br>5. ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) protections such as the ability to leave a pension, other than Social Security, to your spouse<br>6. Exemptions from penalties on IRA and pension rollovers<br>7. Exemptions from estate taxes when a spouse dies<br>8. Exemptions from federal income taxes on spouse's health insurance<br>9. The right to visit a sick or injured loved one, have a say in life and death matters during hospitalization. <br><br>A civil union is a legal status granted by a state. The State of Vermont created civil unions in 2000. It provides legal protection to couples at the state law level, but omits federal protections, as well as the dignity, clarity, security and power of the word "marriage".<br><br>Civil unions are different from civil marriage and that difference has wide-ranging implications that make the two institutions unequal.<br><br>Marriages are respected state to state for all purposes but questions remain as to how civil unions will be treated in other states. The two appellate courts that have addressed the issue in Connecticut and Georgia have disregarded them based on the fact that their own states do not grant civil unions.<br><br>Federal Benefits:<br>According to a 1997 General Accounting Office report, civil marriage brings with it at least 1,049 legal protections and responsibilities from the federal government alone. Civil unions bring none of these critical legal protections.<br><br>Taxes and Public Benefits for the Family:<br>Because the federal government does not respect civil unions, a couple with a civil union will be in a kind of limbo with regard to governmental functions performed by both state and federal governments, such as taxation, pension protections, provision of insurance for families, and means-tested programs like Medicaid. Even when states try to provide legal protections, they may be foreclosed from doing so in joint federal/state programs.<br><br>Filling Out Forms:<br>Every day we fill out forms that ask us whether we are married, single, divorced or widowed. People joined in a civil union do not fit in any of those categories. People with civil unions should be able to identify themselves as a single family unit yet misrepresenting oneself on official documents can be considered fraud and can carry potential serious criminal penalties.<br><br>Separate and Unequal—Second Class Status:<br>Even if there were no substantive differences in the way the law treated marriages and civil unions, the fact that a civil union remains a separate status only for gay people represents real and powerful inequality. The United States Constitution requires legal equality for all. Including lesbian and gay couples within existing marriage laws in is the fairest and simplest thing to do.<br><br>Ending a Civil Union:<br>If you are married, you can get divorced in any state in which you are a resident. But if states continue to disregard civil unions, there is no way to end the relationship other than establishing residency in Vermont and filing for dissolution there. This has already created problems for couples who now have no way to terminate their legal agreement.<br><br>Fellow Democrats please remember that you are by definition supposed to be liberal. <br>To be liberal means to be open-minded.<br><br>