Sovvolf said:
Here in America, the reason things are legal in some states and not others is that we believe that a part of "freedom" is having the freedom to choose to live with like-minded individuals. We have the opportunity for things to be decided on a more local level, each state fashioning it's own laws (within reason). This way, if you don't like where you live, you have the option of going somewhere else where such things are more accepted.
It certainly is NOT a perfect system though. As I stated in an earlier post, the downside to all of this is that we end up with Jim Crow laws and such, where groups of people are unjustly discriminated against by a majority of citizens. Blacks, Women, Gays... depending on where you lived in the past, there were some pretty harsh laws that were oppressive to these people.
This california law also falls into that category depending upon your perspective. To gays its discriminatory and unfair, and the only reason it exists is because a majority of people in the state decided collectively that they didn't want "gays" to have the same thing they have. Is it right? Is it wrong? Depends on who you ask. I'll admit though, I don't think EITHER side is right or wrong... because I think people are entitled to their beliefs and opinions. So I save such arguments for those petty enough to care about it.
What I DO concern myself with is when things grow dangerously close to a powderkeg.. when people start taking matters into their own hands and innocent people get caught in the crossfire. California for all its claims of liberalism sure has a hard-on for dividing itself into little angry groups who feel the need to go express their "freedoms" all over other people, often in offensive and even frightening ways. On one hand, we'll have a bunch of idiots in masks raid a gay night club and deliver a sound beating to anyone they find inside.. on the other hand we'll have gays openly mock Christians with a naked Jesus performing sex acts in a cage during a gay festival (I'm not kidding, this happened).
I guess bottom line is, discussing things is always welcome because if we are to grow as a society we HAVE to keep dialogue open and respectful. You can't gain ANYTHING if no one is willing to a.) compromise and b.) Listen.
However, we must be careful in our defense of things not to go to the extreme so much that WE become the offenders or oppressors, forcing people into corners... cornered groups of people with closed minds are dangerous and being gay does not automatically mean you have an open mind.
When these closeminded groups have had enough, thats when bad things happen. Bad.. BAD things..