posted on June 14, 2004 12:25:07 PM new
Man arguing for same-sex marriage wins Great American Think-Off
NEW YORK MILLS, Minn. (AP) _ A New York man who argued in favor of same-sex marriages won the Great American Think-Off late Saturday.
"I feel that same-sex marriages should be allowed because we all benefit when no one is excluded," said Robert Lerose, 44, a writer from Uniondale, N.Y.
In addition, he said, that when gays are allowed to marry "they will only strengthen the bonds between themselves and their communities and that can only be good for our country."
Lerose won the title of America's Greatest Thinker and $500 when an audience of about 400 chose his argument over three others, including two who argued against gay marriage and another contestant who took spoke in favor it.
The other finalists were: Jim Schantz, 68, a retiree from Luxemburg, Wis., and Sonja Hathaway, 20, a student from Grand Forks, N.D., who argued against and Christy Hicks, 34, an educator from Ferndale, Mich., who said the unions should be allowed.
The Think-Off bills itself as a way for ordinary people to express their opinions on some of life's weightier questions in essays of 750 words or less.
Judges select the finalists from among the essays, then host an annual, live debate.
Past topics included: "Should Assisted Suicide be Legal?", "Does God Exist?" and "Is Honesty Always the Best Policy?"
posted on June 14, 2004 12:34:01 PM new
I would have loved to hear what the 2 said that were against it. The excuses are usually so lame they're only good for deep belly laughs.
posted on June 14, 2004 08:22:42 PM new
yeah right kraft... no conecrete proof that homosexual marriages benefit society... speculation and pipe dreams...
posted on June 14, 2004 08:42:43 PM new Man arguing for same-sex marriage wins Great American Think-Off
Must have been an audience of Lez's & Mo's.
"The Secret Service has announced it is doubling its protection for John Kerry. You can understand why — with two positions on every issue, he has twice as many people mad at him." —Jay Leno
posted on June 14, 2004 08:48:26 PM new
The PC (politically correct) always wins, thats the way of this world today. And being gay, and accepting gay is PC
posted on June 14, 2004 11:21:41 PM new
I see one of the speakers is from Ferndale.
Ferndale, Michigan is a really cool city. It is only about 2 miles square and is located just north of Detroit, with the southern border being 8 Mile Road, (M & M fame). Twenty years ago, Ferndale was a dying city with a blighted neighborhoods and a boarded up downtown. Today, it's a much sought after place for it's night life and entertainment facilities. The neighborhoods are looking nice now and housing values there are going up! What happened to Ferndale to create these positive changes? Many gay men and women moved there, bought the houses and opened businesses there too.
In doing this, they created a place for people to live both young and old, gay and straight. In some of the business windows you will find a simple sign that says, "No Hate Zone". They have changed Ferndale around. In the Detroit area media, it's know as "Fashionable Ferndale".
True Americans do not exclude anybody. They recognize that everyone should have the same rights. Bigotry, intolerance and hatred are cancers of the mind.
posted on June 15, 2004 11:34:18 AM new
Well, I guess that's decided. The plugandsocket challenged win and get to marry. Now we don't have to listen to their whining, right? Right? No, really, listen, like they can go and have a REALLY big party and get drunk and do mud rastlin and get buddy tattoo's. Maybe they could hold it in Ferndale. Hey, make it an annual event! Open up a theme park, Lickmetherewood or something. Just think of the rides! Have booths for novices to experiment with different aspects of their sexuality. Everybody can walk around wearing different colored T-shirts to show their preferences. Just for the sake of convenience could the Heteros have white? No, wait, not that it would mean, well, hey, no, wait....darn it....mumble......mumble...
___________
You know...the best way to defeat a liberal is to let them speak.
You sound somewhat angry in your last comment. Are you?
There couldn't hold it in Ferndale as you say, in the fact the city has only about 4 square miles. Also, I think they just had the gay pride parade there about a month ago.
Now, one of the other reason Ferndale is so populated by gay men and women is that there was no more available affordable housing in Royal Oak. Royal Oak is located just north of Ferndale, and as you might guess, is heavily populated by gay men and women. It also has one of the coolest and economically vibrant downtown areas in Southeastern Michigan. Even though the mega malls in the Metro Detroit area have hurt some downtown areas, Royal Oak has never been effected. There are NO boarded up or empty store fronts there. Everyone, both gay and straight hangs out in Royal Oak.
It just seems that where ever gay men and women go, the residential and business environments are thriving. And that is a good thing!
parklane,
One more thing....
FOR SOME, LIFE IS SO MISERABLE...
True Americans do not exclude anybody. They recognize that everyone should have the same rights. Bigotry, intolerance and hatred are cancers of the mind.
posted on June 15, 2004 01:15:36 PM new
I meant ACCEPTING GAY MARRIAGE being PC kraft, you think I should I go back and edit it?
I'm sorry, but I bout spit my pepsi on my monitor reading Parklanes post, I know, it is awful of me, and I apologize in advance, but damn, some things are just funny!
