I live in Maryland and have talked to many young adults who not surprisingly claim they reject GOP over social issues (gay rights cited) there there really is no one (public figures) that is arguing the alternative side to them in a logical way.
And it cant be Tod Akin type stupidity either,
Is the gay lifestype destructive to society or not?
Are we to designate more special protected classes of victims (entitlements) based on feelings?
Where does that end?
(these are not to you)
I live in Kentucky, a VERY Red state... and have two sons, 23 and 25 years old. I hear the same from them, and many of their friends. They are very conservative on MOST issues... certainly, economically. But, on this issue, they have totally bought into the: "they deserve to be treated like anyone else" argument.
Gay people have been around, forever. But, there really aren't THAT many of them. It's hard to argue that they can bring "destruction to society". They simply aren't THAT important.. and, many of them are relatively intelligent, productive people.
The most successul tact I have found in this argument is: Marriage is a religious institution, NOT a civil one. We really SHOULD separate the two, completely... including the wording. ALL goverment benefits should be granted to "Civil Unions". They usually agree with this....
But I lose them when I say: "Heterosexual Unions are important enough to society, as a whole, to have governments financially subsidize them, with the goal of encouraging children... to keep our population from declining."
They don't make the logical connection that, Gay Civil Unions are NOT WORTHY of financial support from society. They say everyone should be treated the same. I usually respond with, "I WISH the IRS treated everyone the same.. " Then, we all laugh... and part.. but no minds are changed. :-(