1). I don’t really care if Kerry slept with an intern or not (consenting adults and all that), and I don’t believe Drudge until I’ve seen verification. That being said, if this is a true story I don’t really care if Kerry gets shellacked for it, either. Let Mrs. Kerry administer her free knee strike to his groin and be done with it.
2). I do care that two grandmotherly types got married today in San Francisco, but in the “Well, that’s sweet” category. Call it a ‘civil union’ if you like, but the civic benefits of marriage will apply nationwide to consenting-adult couples, regardless of sexual preference, within my lifetime. Deal.
Moe
Let Mrs. Kerry administer her free knee strike to his groin and be done with it.
Screw Janet and her boob. *THAT* oughtta be the next Superbowl half-time show!
Two grandmothers got married in San Francisco, and according to bigots, you can hear straight marriages eroding all over the US.
Anyone here have the impulse to get divorced when they heard the news?
Agree, agree. Then I read this: (via Kleiman)
“The same is true about a very serious, recent, non-sexual report about GWB’s personal life, which I have heard from two good sources, which is credible on its face, and which, if true, directly bears on his fitness to be President.”
Let the games begin!
“2). I do care that two grandmotherly types got married today in San Francisco, but in the “Well, that’s sweet” category…”
More practically, there’s a ton of divorce and settlement money to be made off of this, ‘specially if your state lists adultry as grounds for immediate divorce, and even more so if it mandates 50/50 asset distribution and reparations. :o)
[raises hand]
Is there the slightest reason to believe that Kerry slept with an intern? Other than “Matt Drudge said so”?
I’m curious.
Also, did any of you catch the story about the blogger (I will /not/ name or link him) who posted a Kerry intern’s photo and home phone number on his web page… not because Kerry allegedly slept with her, but because he the blogger thought it would be amusing?
Thoughts?
Doug M.
More practically, there’s a ton of divorce and settlement money to be made off of this, ‘specially if your state lists adultry as grounds for immediate divorce, and even more so if it mandates 50/50 asset distribution and reparations. :o)
Brian, I’m having a little trouble unpacking this. Are you implying that two women in their 80s, who have been partnered for 51 years as of tomorrow, are actually at more risk of divorce than Britney Spears? Or are you just making a snide insinuation about gay people being unable to keep commitments that they make? Help me out on this here, please…
Moe is right. It is gonna happen. If the Republican party wants to stake its future on stuff like the FMA, they will regret it.
Or are you just making a snide insinuation about gay people being unable to keep commitments that they make? Help me out on this here, please…
I’m not insinuating anything. Everything I’ve witnessed being out and about in the community indicates gay men have a definite problem keeping it in their pants and staying faithful to one person for more than three months at a time.
That displays a fairly amazing level of ignorance, Brian. I’ve known gay couples that have been together and faithful for years; I’ve also known married straight guys who will leap at anything female in the blink of an eye.
And even if it were true that gay men are less faithful than their straight counterparts, how does that effect you or me?
That displays a fairly amazing level of ignorance, Brian.
Yeah, you’re right – my life and experiences as a gay man makes me fairly ignorant about the lifestyles and experiences of gay men. I wouldn’t know anything about what goes on in my own community.
I’m sensing a serious disconnect here, and for once, its not coming from me.
I’ve known gay couples that have been together and faithful for years;
I’ll believe the “together” part, but you’ll be hard pressed to convince me they’ve been singularly “faithful” for years. Unless by “faithful” you mean “worked out a mechanism whereby they can fool around with other guys outside the relationship”, which has been the universal norm with every couple I’ve met.
But then, if you’re straight, I can’t imagine them dragging that kind of laundry out for your public viewing.
And even if it were true that gay men are less faithful than their straight counterparts, how does that effect you or me?
If I become a divorce attorney? I get to line my pockets with filthy lucre, laughing, “Hey, man, *you’re* the one who decided he wanted get married!” all the while. :o)
Seriously, though.
Marriage is about love and commitment to another person. I know that. I’m guessing you know that. The little old ladies and older gentlemen that’re getting hitched in ‘Frisco know that.
The younger guys that’re going to run out and get hitched don’t know that. All they’ll be looking at is the shiny new legitimacy the government’s giving them as a final flip off to mom, dad, Christian fundamentalists, or the kids who used to pick on them at school.
Without some serious behavioral changes in the community this is going to be a disaster. I don’t want civil unions to end up as a twisted mockery of marriage – everyone’ll be in a civil union, and still screwing around with everyone else – but that’s exactly where I’m afraid this thing is headed.
You may well be right, Brian – many gay men will get married and they’ll still have sex with other men. Pretty much like many straight men get married and still have sex with other women. The only difference will be (judging on the gay men and the straight men I know) the gay men are unlikely to lie to their husband or their casual partners about their extramarital sex… and as Bush is finding out, it’s the coverup that gets you in trouble.
Of course the divorce lawyers will get an extra 10% of business – 10% more people will be getting married, and some of them will be getting divorced. More likely than not, the young ones who rushed into marriage. Won’t be because they’re gay, though: it’ll be because they’re young idiots who got married to the wrong person.
I have to agre with Jesurgislac here — I haven’t seen any indication that gay men cheat more frequently than straight men, and I’ve known quite a few of both groups, both younger and older. (I’ll also note that we’ve gotten into discussing male behavior, and that we shouldn’t generalize it to everyone’s behavior, but that hasn’t come up yet.)
I have noticed more nonmonogamous gay men, but not more cheaters. I’m not aware of reliable statistics (and if anyone has some, I’d love to see them) on the frequency of cheating, but I will point out that it’s hard to compare apples and apples here, precisely because gay people can’t get married, with all the supports entailed thereunto.
In my experience, younger people, of whatever gender or orientation, usually aren’t ready for the kind of commitment involved in marriage. (Lord knows I wasn’t the first time around!) That’s not a hard-and-fast rule, or course, but a general guideline. There are some people who do get married in a fit of childishness like Brian describes, and there might be some more who get sucked in by the idea of being finally able to get married… but I’d call those people “folks who are in love with the idea of marriage”, rather than with their partner. Those relationships tend to dissolve pretty soon anyway, and at least there won’t be as many cases of children in the mix.
They might dissolve because of “adultery”… but I think “irreconcilable differences” are far more likely.