What is all this fuss about same sex marriage and the redefinition of the term marriage? All you heteros forget that Henry VIII fought hard to redefine the institute of marriage by wanting a divorce from Catherine of Aragon. People are hiding too much behind their religion to justify why 2 committed people should be allowed to live in matrimony. But they forget that they like to cherry pick from what the teachings of christianity really are. If homosexuality were against 'Gods law' then why was it left out of the 10 commandments? And by christians (and other religions) own beliefs, God does not make mistakes so then homosexuality is in Gods will. Its amazing how heterosexuals think that by letting gays marry, they will interfere in how they live their own lives. Lets face it, me marrying my partner of 9 years is really going to affect how you watch Emmerdale, Coronation Street and any other crap that you are all tuned into every night.

Hi Bob. No tarring was involved - my comment was pretty open-ended, if read objectively. I wasn't demanding tolerance for my views, I was just writing them down. You seem to have taken my comment a little too personally, given that you start your comment to me with an ad-hominem attack (liberal bigots like 'Expat marra').

Labeling people (eg "liberal bigots") is a form of "tarring with the same brush" which you accuse me of doing. However, most people won't fit squarely within just one label, because humans are complex animals.

In your second paragraph you seem to feel that calling someone a "bigot" is an insult.. erm, 'scuse me, what did you refer to me as? And lets move on to your suggestion that the term "racist" is an insult.

We have an interesting conundrum here - lets say that person A shouts a racist taunt at person B. Person B then calls person A a racist.

How is this an insult? It is simply a statement of fact as seen from person B's viewpoint. Is it an insult from person A's point of view? If so why? Is it because person A is indeed a racist but tries to pretend they aren't, and hates being called out on it? The same goes for the term "homophobe". These are not insults, they are definitions of human behaviour which many people think of as uncivilised.

Your final sentence -

"Being against same sex marriage ... is not an example of an irrational fear of homosexual." (sic).

I don't know how you worked that out - if you listen to the far right wing over in America, you definitely get the impression that they are scared that gay marriage will ruin straight marriages in some strange undefinable way. And the fact that they can't define it, in among their righteous ranting, tells me that they do indeed have an an irrational fear of homosexuality.

Anne Darling, you obviously have a Live And Let Live attitude, as indeed I do. If what people do doesn't affect other people, then why interfere?

See how the liberal bigots like 'Expat marra' tar everyone who refuses to worship at the alter of diversity and tolerance?

They demand tolerance for their own little views, but anyone else's views get shouted down as bigoted/racist/homophobe (make up insult here).

Being against same sex marriage (which i happen not to be) is not an example of an irrational fear of homosexual.

I am fortunate enough to know gay people of both genders. Why should they not be allowed to make the ultimate commitment if they want to?

it's Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve!

This is just uneducated homophobia, possibly fueled by the biblical injunction against homosexuals and worries about their own sexual orientation.

This sort of medieval thinking is holding society back.