How many times must we put this to a vote? Are judges once again going to override democracy and the majority vote of the people?

Marriage- (noun) the social institution under which a man and woman establish their decision to live as husband and wife by legal commitments, religious ceremonies, etc.

That's from the dictionary. Remember that? It's that book that tells you what words mean. Marriage means a union between a man and a woman, pure and simple.

A gay man has the exact same right to get married as I do. Any man can marry any woman he chooses. A man, however, cannot MARRY another man. A woman cannot MARRY another woman. I know I'm arguing semantics here, but it's pretty amazing how dense people can be about this subject.

There is a REASON homosexuals want their unions to be recognized and called MARRIAGES. It has nothing to do with equal rights, which they already have under the law. Call them civil unions, domestic partnerships, etc., they carry the same legal standing as marriages, but aren't called marriage, for reasons already stated above.    

It's about legitimization of a lifestyle choice which, in the eyes of many Americans, is dangerous and immoral. Statement of facts doesn't make someone hateful, and as long as I know that, I'm free to ignore anyone who calls me hateful. I have gay friends. I disagree with their lifestyle choice and they are aware of my feelings. If I had a friend who had a problem with alcohol, I'd tell him about it. If my buddy was cheating on his wife, he'd get an earful from me. Call me judgmental, but I'd rather do what I could to help someone out of an immoral and dangerous situation than do nothing, or worse yet, condone or even support it.

On another note, gay is not the same as race. As a white man, I cannot ever be black or any other race. I was born this way. No course of action or inaction will ever change that. Gay, however, is a behavior. Sorry for sounding flippant here, but every day I don't have sex with another man is another day of not being gay. Simply being attracted to someone of the same sex doesn't make you homosexual. Different people are tempted by different things. We, as people, can control our actions through the use of a handy little thing our creator endowed us with called FREE WILL.

Does this make sense? It did to the majority of voters on Nov. 4th,  who in several states approved measures which reaffirmed what we already know...that marriage is between a man and a woman, and nothing else.