the rix mix

I have yet to hear arguments in favor of laws banning gay & lesbian unions that do not stink of bigotry. There's often a mismash of appeals to ""history" & "culture" & societal "values" that could just as easily have been made by Nazis. National Socialism was as much a religious movement as a political one. The war against homosexuals is always justified on religious grounds, or with the pseudo-religion of puritanical totalitarianism. It is not like abortion. The basic argument against abortion is that fetuses are in essence human beings & therefore human rights must be extended to them. This is the Nat Hentoff position & it is easy enough for anyone to understand whether or not one agrees with it. What or whose rights are being protected by pre-emptively banning same sex unions? The right not to be offended by another American because your religious beliefs order you to be offended? It is as if the XIX Amendment were rewritten to do the opposite of its intent: "The right of citizens of the United States to deny the right to vote on account of sex shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State."