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Gay-rights activist calls for D.C. march

PS - I live outside the US and we are more and more being barraged by offensive behavior and content, especially in our schools, in the vein of 'freedom', and then being forced to accept it. If you want to engage in thoughtful debate, that is fine, but vulgarity and violence will get you nowhere (see Obama's speech to the Muslim world last week).

Cleve Jones misstates his cause. Seeking gay marriages in all 50 states is not akin to the blacks fight for civil rights or equal protection under the law. Whether you believe in God or not, the institution of marriage was a law given by Him, for the purposes of companionship and procreation, between a man and a woman. The bible couldn't make it any clearer - there is no ambiguity requiring a creative interpretation of God's word to clarify what He meant. I believe gays are entitled to the legal and financial protections of "civil unions", but they can't elevate their status to a constitutionally gauranteed right when it simply isn't there. If you need some context to aid your interpretation of "equal protection" you need look no further than our founding fathers who made it clear that the only way our republic would survive was if America had enough "public virtue" - which they defined as "religion and morality". Neither religion nor morality can support the notion of 2 males or 2 females having a long term conugal relationship. God simply doesn't sanction it.

How sad for me, also a Christian, to see so many of us not getting the most important message of Jesus Christ...Love God, and Love One Another. It will take me a lifetime to learn how to do that better. I'm raising my children to be FOR something...like love, compassion, tolerance, equality, and an appreciation for the diversity God has given us. I feel that's a healthier way to live than to spend time, money and energy being AGAINST something or someone who is different than me. It's the 21st century, we all drink out of the same drinking fountains now. Live and let live.

rain on your parade, but this rally doesn't really help your cause. This event could have been held anywhere in the US, but it specifically held in SLC as an attack on the LDS church. Cleve even hinted to that in his statement in the story. It's one thing to have a cause to fight for, but when a group attacks another to prove their point then it has gone overboard. This event revealed the true hate that these people have towards those who value traditional marriage. People of all religions value traditional mariages, not just the LDS church. Not everything in life is fair. Equal rights for everybody for every little thing that exsists on this planet is just not going to happen. Even if you did win your war, then what. With the hate built up inside, another trumped up cause will be invented and we will have to put up with more marches and parades as you try and prove some other forced point of view. Come on, do something constructive with your lives.

because of the boy who was murdered in wyoming a few years back. i'm not gay and i don't play but i find these people are more tolerant and accepting of others than the christians who have started war after war on one another.i can't condone the hate toward this group or any group. peace!

To Denise Druce - you know nothing about religion or the Savior if you stand behind what you said. He was for "love, compassion and charity, but he was not accepting of immoral actions like homosexuality. Love sinner despise the sin. All of you that base your arguments on tolerance and equality need to realize that doesn't fit all situations especially when it comes to immorality. What are you going to support next Pedophilia? Get a grip on whatever your religious beliefs are!

I saw the march... It was raining because God was crying... What an ugly thing.

I'm holding out for the straight pride parade. I hope I don't offend anyone with that statement but I can't help it... I was born that way.

Seriously though, I don't have a problem with civil unions but why must they parade around like a bunch of deviants? I doesn't do anything for their cause.

The gay rights movement is a cancer that is eating away at the very foundation of our society. If we don't fight against it our society will die. We are being destroyed from the inside out. Hopefully there are enough decent people left in this country to stop this.

Denise - Would you "tolerate" having your children taught about homosexual practices in their classroom? Would you "tolerate" your nextdoor neighbor viewing child porn on their front porch and showing it your kids? Why not? At what point do you stand up and say something is wrong? At what point do you defend your family?

And they wonder why they aren't respected.

I believe you are right to an extent. Love is the key. Both sides of the argument could use more of it, I know I could. The way I see it the First Great Commandment was to Love God with all your heart, might, mind and strength. The second is like unto it Love your neighbor as yourself. A great man once said "the first commandment is first for a reason...true the second commandment is like unto the first but it isn't the first commandment...We have a lot of people who partially keep the second commandment, more than truly keep the first...The first commandment sets the high tone, the divine standards, if it were not so then as the scriptures say everyman walketh in his own way and he does his own thing. That first commandment is the linchpin for everything else." More respect and tolerance is needed on both sides but if you are a bible believing individual you should not wonder where God stands with respect to gay marriage. We can love without giving away everything that we hold dear.

What about our rights - the rights of the married? Why should we have to give up our rights so that the institution we entered into can be redefined? Hey, I have a right to be a doctor but I don't want to follow the rules to become one so redefine it for me. What will become of the profession of doctors? It will become diluted and unattractive so that others will not want to become a doctor. We step on a slippery slope when we start redefining things.

If your religion lets you look down upon these gay people without love and compassion, it cannot be what God would want. Those are his children and you are sinners just like them. There is something wrong with those who think they are better Americans and deserve more privileges than other Americans.

They have the same right we do. to marry someone of the opposite sex. The law does not say we have the right to marry someone we love. There is a difference. The law doesn't care about emotions.

Stop asking for special treatment!

I don't understand... this article came out yesterday, I posted a couple of times... why did all the comments change???

Religious beliefs do not trump constitional rights.

"By the way we already do have equal rights in all 50 states. Heterosexuals can't marry someone of the same sex either."

Yeah... and a Christian in Iran has their rights as well... just as long as they are worshiping Allah in a mosque...

ahhh here you all go again, the ugliness of the religious right rears its head on the comment boards daily...

In his speech Jones mentioned gay marriage, but his call to action was much wider. He was talking about broader issues such as employment discrimination, the farcical Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, hate crimes, inheritance and social security issues, family entitlements and protections, taxation, the whole nine yards.

These are real tangible issues that impact gay and lesbian individuals, couples, and families every day. Not some hypothetical fear about what some teacher might teach some kid twenty years from now; or some abstract slippery-slope fear that religious freedoms might be lost in the distant future.

It's apparent after the last legislative session, and when Lt Governor Herbert has already gone on record saying gay rights issues have already be addressed and will be ignored in the future, that the fight for equality will have to go Federal.

If Utah gays and lesbians cannot get the most BASIC of legal protections out of committee, then this debate will inevitably either go to the courts or to Washington. If Civil Unions in Utah are off the table, then why shouldn't this go Federal?