[freehunter]

How about:

"I don't see any similarity between the two. Gays were trying to obtain equal rights. The right to be a black man and vote is one that no one has, not just black people."

Straight people have the right to marry. Gay people don't. Same exact issue. If you're not gay, you by default don't need the right to marry same-sex, just like if you're not black, you don't need the right to be black and vote.

[rome]

Actually everyone except blacks could vote. Contrary to popular belief, gay people can marry, just not same sex. This isn't a statement against same sex marriage, I'm just making a subtle distinction. Gay people have never experienced the maltreatment that blacks have in this country.

[freehunter]

Now I'm wondering if blacks could vote if they dressed up in whiteface and pretended to be white to fool the voter board. You know, denying everything they are. Just like a gay person marrying the opposite sex.

Gays have benefited from the liberalism and civil rights movement in that the majority of the population doesn't hate them for being different. But you can't deny that they're being harrased, beaten, killed, pushed to suicide, thrown from their homes, and subjected to punishments designed to "fix" them. It's doesn't have to be "black had it worse", the point of the matter is gays have it bad.

I'm not trying to put words in your mouth since you didn't come out and directly state your viewpoint, I'm just trying to show how fallacious the words you did say are. Especially when we're on the verge of starting things down the right path. Both blacks and gays have been are are being violently persecuted for something they can't change. Telling gays to marry straight is highly offensive.

[rome]

I did not tell anyone to marry, let alone tell gays to marry straight. I never said that gays weren't treated badly. I also never said that gays should pretend they are not gay to get married. Nothing I said was false or was meant to slight gay people.

My comment was a response to someone comparing the two plights. For me, the differences are worth discussing.

[ScottBurson]

First you say...

Gay people have never experienced the maltreatment that blacks have in this country.

Then you come back with:

I never said that gays weren't treated badly.

Gays have been routinely beaten up and occasionally murdered for decades. Many have been rejected by their own families.

Freehunter is right, of course -- this is not about comparing who is the most persecuted, as if only the winner of such a comparison had the right to complain about it. It's about seeing prejudice for what it is.

I think that if you really looked at what a lot of gay people have gone through, you would not so facilely deny any similarity between that and what blacks have experienced. Of course there are differences; they are different situations. But there are also very substantial similarities. It appears that you don't want to look at the similarities, and I think you should ask yourself why not.

EDITED TO ADD:

You should really talk to some gay black people. The ones I have spoken to about this have all said the experiences aren't very different at all.

[rayiner]

Black people had the right to marry someone of their own race.