An interesting and highly relevant thought experiment would be imagine gay folk invented and perpetuated something of the level of complexity of marriage; would it be appropriate for the Supreme Court to demand equal access for straight people to that theoretical gay construct?
Yes, of course.
Should every gay bathhouse in the country be forced legally at gunpoint to implement "Saturday Straight Day" merely because some straight folk want equal access to something the gays built by themselves and the straights finally badgered the Supreme Court into agreeing that big brother must force the gay bathhouse people to accept straights?
My understanding is that (1) gay bathhouses largely went away decades ago due to AIDS, and (2) they never kicked people out for being straight - among other things, you can't tell who's straight and who's gay by looking. As far as gay bars go, if you're a straight person who wanders in looking for a couple of drinks, you might get hit on a bit by someone who you don't want to get hit on, but your money is still green and nobody will complain or even know you're straight unless you start a fight or something.
As far as the rest of your point, I'd be totally fine with some other way of legally recognizing close relationships between adults completely absent of any religious baggage, especially when there's actually stakes involved (inheritance, insurance, medical decisions, etc). As an interesting example of a probably non-sexual version of this, after her husband died my grandmother lived with a female friend of hers for over 20 years, and while to the best of my knowledge they were never lovers they were certainly effectively a family after living together for that long, and were largely treated as such.
-- The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 04 2018, @11:24PM
by Anonymous Coward
on Saturday August 04 2018, @11:24PM (#717356)
if you're a straight person who wanders in looking for a couple of drinks, you might get hit on a bit by someone who you don't want to get hit on, but your money is still green and nobody will complain or even know you're straight unless you start a fight or something./blockquote
Exactly this happened to me, except for the getting hit on part. Wasn't even obvious at first that it was a gay bar. Enjoyed my drinks at the bar and left.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Tuesday July 31 2018, @08:31PM (1 child)
Yes, of course.
My understanding is that (1) gay bathhouses largely went away decades ago due to AIDS, and (2) they never kicked people out for being straight - among other things, you can't tell who's straight and who's gay by looking. As far as gay bars go, if you're a straight person who wanders in looking for a couple of drinks, you might get hit on a bit by someone who you don't want to get hit on, but your money is still green and nobody will complain or even know you're straight unless you start a fight or something.
As far as the rest of your point, I'd be totally fine with some other way of legally recognizing close relationships between adults completely absent of any religious baggage, especially when there's actually stakes involved (inheritance, insurance, medical decisions, etc). As an interesting example of a probably non-sexual version of this, after her husband died my grandmother lived with a female friend of hers for over 20 years, and while to the best of my knowledge they were never lovers they were certainly effectively a family after living together for that long, and were largely treated as such.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 04 2018, @11:24PM