After gay marriage legalization, I'm scared that's it's going to get worse

Well I can't see what's to worry about I mean I think there will always be homophobic people. But once gay marriage is legalized it can't get banned. Also there will however be straight allies. I think it's a toss up of homophobes and non homophobes.

 

I think it would get worse to and some of us might get attacked no matter who we are or what we look like there are people out there that hate us and want us gone .:icon_sad:

 

I agree that we probably are going to start seeing some desperation arguments from some religions people. We are already seeing some, like you have mentioned. The big this is that many of these arguments can easily be disproved, or they are just so ridiculous that they make the person sound dumb when they say it. Will some people fall for it? Yes they will, but that is their decision.

Even if you throw research in somebody's face, it is their choice if they listen to it or if they bury their head in the sand. You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot teach it to drink.

So, you do have valid concerns. They are even more valid considering that many states do not have non-discrimination laws or hate crime laws on the books. I personally think that the best approach is to educate while showing why hate crime laws and non-discrimination laws are necessary. (There is a federal hate crime law, I am talking state to state hate crime laws though.)

When same sex marriage is legalized for the entire country, there will be backlash. The question is how much of that we will see, where it will occur, and how it will effect us. We cannot know any of these things until same sex marriage is legalized throughout the United States.

 

I feel like that will never go away but honestly I know how to defend myself so if any homophobes start a fight with me well then I'll be ready to throw down and they better be ready to receive a knuckle sandwich.

 

Even if same-sex marriage is legalized, it could still be banned at some point if it got enough support. Just look at Prop 8 and how a single referendum undid years of work towards equality for same sex couples in California. Unless it's made into an amendment in the Constitution, it would still be fairly easy to repeal any law.

 

Ya but I remember when it first got legalized in AZ and the only people that were mad about it were the LDS Mormons the others don't care. But if it does what will that make the gay couples that are already married? Just back to partners? Oh man I hope that doesn't happen. I swear to god if someone tries to re-ban it I will hunt them down and eat them.

 

Haters gonna hate.
They'll probably end up being mostly ignored like they have in other countries that have nationally legalised it.

If you can get your hands on a copy, try to find a documentary where an American pastor travels to Scandinavia. I think it's called "The Norden".

 

Public opinion is changing for the better. More people are coming out. The more people who do so will it more and more difficult for bigots to thrive in the mainstream. I think we will gain more allies. The more people come out, the more alienated the bigots become. Even if they hate LGBT people, they might be more prone to shut their mouths because they can no longer bully us.

 

Yeah, I wouldn't worry about it too much. It probably wouldn't be repealed, but there's always the possibility that it could. I guess my cynical side is just coming out. A healthy dose of paranoia never hurt anyone, I guess.

 

What do you suggest we do about it? It's a huge step forward, and I'm not afraid of a bunch of idiots who are going to whine about a good thing.

 

What concerns me is the thought that when same-sex marriage is fully legalised, people will think the war is won, when issues like LGBTIQ youth homelessness, homophobic and transphobic violence, trans* reproductive rights, etc., are still pressing and still major. It'll be a big battle to win but it won't end the war.

 

I think the worst problem that will arise from the legalisation of same-sex marriage will be the potential ignorance and sheer denial of queer issues. Mental and physical health, the rate of homeless queer youth, the murder rate of trans people etc. might be ignored because people will be able to say that full equality has been reached by marriage.

Of course, I think a lot of better-off LGB people will be very guilty of that, too. Many already try to dump trans (and some bi) issues so that LG issues (or even just gay issues) can be achieved, so to gain marriage equality might mean the rather grittier problems will be sidelined by our own community as the better of among us can do as we please and forget the rest.

On the other hand, you could say marriage equality brings a distraction to the less savoury or just the little-known aspects of problems among LGBT+ people, so it could do some good for the community as a whole. That said, I feel the first problem I raised is the one that's more likely, if not quite as negative as I've put it in some ways.

---------- Post added 3rd Dec 2014 at 08:56 PM ----------

A clear, intelligent and far more concise way to put what I was trying to say.

 

I am not too worried about that particular argument. I think when gay marriage is legal people will see it's not a "slippery slope." Gay marriage is also legal in a majority of states now and seems everything is going okay.

In terms of general backlash, I still doubt their will be a ton aside from some extremist groups.

 

Those issues will always be there as long as humanity stand. Just take example from women, children and animals and how they are still treated in 21st century... either openly or behind heavy veils of distraction.

At best people will get used to it and when they get used to something they think it as normal... just look interracial marriage, single mothers or working women. Once those things were taboo. Not all parts of the world will be equal but just like torch at the hand of Lady Liberty, those things give people a shining example to dream on.

 

Slippery slope arguments are usually, from what I've heard, fear-based and easily debunked. Marrying a dog? Well, marriage legally requires consent and dutiful action by each party and clearly a dog has no concept of marriage or the ability to consent, so it's an argument dismissed in a couple of seconds, from a legal standpoint. Anyone bringing such an argument to the table lacks a basic understanding of law and consent.

 

Slippery slope arguments are in fact very easy to debunk.

I'm actually more concerned with what Maddy says. Once the US gets marriage equality, we still have a long ways to go for full equality under law (I.e. ENDA, overturning the FDA's blood ban on MSMs, and so on)

 

First and foremost, you have to realize that phrases like "What's next, are you going to marry your dog?" are just words. With that very sentence, it's clear that they know nothing of the LGBTQ community or how we feel towards the people we love in general so it's just basic noise. When they try to pick at you just ward them off with basic facts. Tell them that you feel sorry for them. That you feel sorry that they feel they have to surround themselves with such negativity every day by bullying other people because they don't believe in the same things they do.

Hope derives from fear. The fear of losing someone, the fear of being hurt... and fear can turn into anger. The more fearful they are, the less they hope and the angrier they are. The angrier they are, the more they target others and in this case, they target us because they fear that if homosexuality is alright, then the Bible must be wrong and therefore, they loose all hope in their beliefs and won't know where to go on from there, seeing as how God is no longer real enough to guide them through life. Their true fear? Is walking alone. Sure, you can have friends and family around you but most of us know that only we can only change ourselves for a better future and most of us do. Even though they can, they don't know how.. which is why losing God the scariest thing to them.

 

You're absolutely right. After SSM is legalized, so many other issues need to be addressed. What you wrote made me think of the lyrics from Same Love...

"And a certificate on paper isn't gonna solve it all
But it's a damn good place to start
No law is gonna change us
We have to change us"