Cecilie1200
Diamond Member
Gay couples do not have the right to file joint tax returns. They may not be able to visit their spouse in the hospital or make medical decisions if the spouse is incapable. Gay people do not have the right to their spouse's Social Security or retirement. The list goes on and on.
The biggest difference is that gay people cannot serve in the military. Don't ask, don't tell is a joke. How can gay people be considered citizens of this country when they cannot have the honor of serving our military and our country?
The right to file a joint tax return is a tax privilege, not a civil and inalienable right. They are actually able to see their spouses in the hospital, so that's an erroneous example. Social Security and access to retirement: see above re: privileges not civil rights.
Gay people can't serve "openly" in the military. That's not a civil right, either, though.
I hate soundbites, and this one doesn't make any sense whatsoever.
Your rights only exist to the extent they are enforced by the Courts and by the government.
And if the rights of gay people are not enforced, they do not exist.
So what don't *you* get?
What are you talking about?
Some people don't understand nuance within the law, and wouldn't recognize a right if it slapped them in the face.
Filing joint taxes is not a right.
And the whole "hospital scenario" has probably happened once or twice, before "Philadelphia" became a hit, and doesn't happen anymore. It's a fantasy.
It may still happen once or twice, if someone is in intensive care and was dumb enough not to have a living will, so that his disapproving parents became his medical executors. Personally, I have no sympathy for anyone that stupid and careless, though.