Hello from Baehr and Curadh, a podcast from the Land Of Awes Information Services.
I love you, Curadh. I love you, Baehr.
This is episode 106 of the Baehr and Curadh podcast.
We're going to talk about gay marriage facts.
Yesterday we went to a wedding.
My mother's wedding.
Your mother's wedding, yes.
Do you want to share any thoughts about it?
I'm glad that she's happy.
She's married.
I'm happy for her.
So congratulations to the bride and groom.
It shows that marriage is more of a social construct and a legal construct.
And it shows that you can get married at any age.
So love is never ending.
So good for them.
And we got married almost nine years ago today.
Maybe a couple of weeks.
A couple of weeks, yeah.
The 30th was our anniversary.
So congratulations on that for both of us.
I love you.
Doesn't seem like nine years seems a lot shorter.
Sure does.
It does.
It's amazing.
So I guess that's good though.
Monkey said, you know, you do it all over again.
Well, as you get older, time seems to pass faster.
Yeah, it's amazing.
If you think about it, like a three year old,
a year is like one third of their life.
And you get to ten years old.
You know, that's like one tenth of your life.
You get to our age.
It's just a school piece of your life.
Exactly.
It's funny.
But yeah, it's funny.
I remember being a freshman in high school.
I'm going, oh my God, I got to do four years of this.
It's going to take forever four years of my life.
Oh my God.
Four years.
I came out here in '92 and I've lived here more than half my life now
and I never thought, you know, being from New Jersey and coming out here.
And it's like I would love to go back and relive those four years
or go back to college.
It seems once you're at a formal schooling time flies.
So it's just odd how that works.
So it's always like you could work about how.
I mean, one hour of work seems like forever, but you're one hour lunch break.
It seems like it's five minutes long.
So, all right.
Let's get into it.
The share of Americans who favor same-sex marriage goose steadily
for almost the last decade,
but public support has leveled off in the last few years.
Okay.
I think that's true.
Yeah, I think so too.
I think what happened is people are not kind of complacent
because it's a non-issue.
It's legal.
Definitely a non-issue.
Yeah.
It's not in the headlines anymore.
People have just come to accept it as a part of life.
Which is good.
But it still makes me nervous with the Supreme Court of Wates
that's right now.
The fact that you know, with Thomas over, with over, was it over fell?
Yeah.
Well, now we need to re-look at some of the same second marriage.
In fact, all of the privacy laws built upon the Constitution
they want to revisit.
Yeah.
Which is ridiculous.
So, we need to be careful about that because I do not always...
You know, marriage.
Well, I'm married to save, I think.
They might be able to take it away, but I don't think you're going to
up and leave me tomorrow if the Supreme Court decides.
Just waiting for the ink to dry out the paper.
Shut up.
Me too then.
It's mutual.
So, that has broader implications.
If all those privacy laws, the right to interracial marriages,
the right to receive whatever publications you want in the mail,
the right to have contraceptives and use them.
Yeah.
All those privacy issues that they want to revisit.
Yeah, it's not just one issue.
It's a broader spectrum of things.
I wouldn't be surprised if they try to make abortion illegal nationwide.
And then they want to decide that contraception is pre-abortion.
Yeah.
But, yeah, it's, well, right now they're blocking something in the house.
Aren't they with contraceptives?
Yeah, even though 75% of the population believes the contraception is good
and we should have it a few Republicans decided to vote against it and block it in Congress.
Wow.
Yeah, it just shows how out of touch they are with the rest of the population.
The nation.
Yeah, exactly.
Come.
79% of Americans who are religiously unaffiliated favor same-sex marriage.
Among white, evangelical Protestants, however, only 29% favor same-sex marriage.
Are you surprised?
I'm surprised it's not bigger for evangelicals.
Yeah.
Are you seeing smaller?
Well, I guess it depends on how you look at it.
You read it, but in the desels, they don't seem to think for themselves.
They seem to rely on their ministers to do all their thinking for them.
Yeah.
But we're the sheep.
So, yeah.
How does my happiness affect your life?
Well, obviously by those statistics, it's all a religious thing.
It's not a societal thing.
No.
Because people who have no religion are overwhelmingly in favor of it.
Yeah, but how does my happiness affect your invisible being?
You know what I mean?
Because God told me to hate you.
It's ridiculous.
But Christians are supposed to.
What would Jesus do?
That's what you have to say.
You know, what Jesus ate me.
So...
One of the gay pride things that we protest...
Well, we didn't protest that, but we had a presence at.
We handed out these flyers that I made up.
It was an 8.5 by 11 folded in half.
And on the front cover, it says, "A complete Bible transcript of everything Jesus said about case."
And you opened it up and it's blank on the inside.
Yeah.
It's a new occurrence, isn't it?
Well, it's not a occurrence.
It's just been recently written into the Bible pretty much about homosexuals and Jesus...
Hard interpreted.
But recently, as like in 8,000 years ago, I don't know.
No, I thought they were...
Okay, forget it, never mind.
But there literally is nothing that Jesus said about.
Or like four or against gay people.
From anywhere in the Bible.
Yeah.
So recently it's been written into the Bible then that Jesus did say it or it's just imputing it.
Not that I know of.
Okay.
So there's nothing in the Bible about homosexuality?
Oh, there is in the Old Testament, which was all struck down by the New Testament.
Okay.
And I think James in his letters to the whatever's people condemned homosexuality a lot.
But that wasn't Jesus.
Yeah.
Well, screw James.
I'm kidding.
No, not really.
Okay.
45% of adults in this silent generation, those born between 1928 and 1945,
allow favor, allow gays and lesbians to wed compared to 74% of millennials born between 1981 and 1996.
Hmm.
This goes back to just the old school thinking, I think.
And just different generation.
Yeah, there's a term.
Homosexuality is a sin.
You know what it'd be queer.
That's what I think.
It's what they're used to.
Hmm.
I'm not giving them a buy by any.
The past by any means, but.
I was surprised by the term silent generation.
I've never heard of that.
I either buy.
Yeah, because I guess that would be the ones born right after World War One.
Yeah.
They're right during the Great Depression.
So, I guess maybe people solidify their thinking sometime in their 30s and then they just
don't ever change after that.
Yeah.
Can't teach an old dog new tricks.
Hmm.
But, um, I'm surprised that 74% of millennials, I thought it'd be a little bit higher.
I mean, that's still pretty...
Some of those are evangelical Christians.
That's true.
You know.
They can't all be open minded.
Now, I guess that is three out of four people, so.
And, um, as far as progressive ideas on marriage, it seems to me like the older people have.
Have been more thoughtful about it.
Okay.
Well, you don't see a lot of older people like my mother getting married.
No.
I think that may have to do with government benefits because you get more money if you're
two singles and if you're a married couple.
Okay.
They don't want to give up those benefits.
Yeah.
Well, and then also, I think that generation, a lot of that generation would stay married no
matter what, it's no matter how bad the marriage was, you stay with your husband or wife.
You know, you don't even run off to get divorced.
Like now, like how the generations are now.
No matter what happened, you...
You didn't have these TV shows where they have a contest in the two winners get married
and then a week later have it...
You know, get it divorced, that's what happened in the Golden Bachelor.
That's the respect for marriage that Christians think that we're violating.
Yeah.
Yeah, but they make TV fodder for it.
So it's such a holy matrimony, but let's make it for TV fodder.
You know, it's supposed to be such a holy practice and, you know, to look at what the pastor
was saying yesterday and just some of it.
I just wanted to laugh at it and just...
Just on the circumstances.
No.
Yeah.
And he was reading it, literally reading it right out of the book.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
I just kind of chuckled though.
You know that one on the...
We'll just kind of get that one to the curb.
That's a nice suggestion.
So...
But yeah, I think that's...
Yeah.
Okay.
I guess that's...
We're gonna let that...
Yeah, we're gonna let that...
Yeah.
Republicans and Republican leaning independence are much less likely to favor same-sex marriage
than Democrats and Democratic leaders.
44% versus 75%.
It's not a big surprise to me.
It's not a big surprise to me at all.
So...
And I kind of wonder if you pulled Republican leadership separately from Republican followers
if there would be a big difference.
Hmm. I don't know.
When you pull people, often people will...
They'll say things that are not what they truly think.
Yeah.
It's what they...
Society wants them to think or they think society wants them to think.
Almost every time that there is a presidential poll, they'll have...
You know, polls right before presidential election.
And they go, "Oh, people are, you know, overwhelmingly gonna vote for this candidate."
Well, in the...
That's because that's what people will say to somebody else when they're asked.
But in the privacy of the polling booth, I think they're a lot more honest.
Yeah, I think so too.
Yeah.
What kills me about this statement is isn't the Republican party the one that's...
The less government?
Mm-hmm. Yeah. But yet they... they love... they love to get their...
Cubby little fingers in...
Well, they legislate.
They legislate every single...
Or marriage.
Private women's medical decisions.
Yeah, it's...
They should just call it the...
The...
The hypocrisy.
The party.
The hypocrisy party.
Yeah.
Really because, I mean...
There's such liars and such bullshitters.
Yeah.
Really, the only time they're actually for less government is when it's tax time.
Exactly.
But other than that, they love meddling in their own business and stuff like that.
But the Democrats are the equal ones.
I saw Cartoon the other day...
A woman was... was holding up a brand new baby.
And the other woman says, "Is it a boy or is it a property of the government?"
Yeah.
I'm tackling.
But it's...
I love how they're real big about, you know, you know...
You can't have a proportion, blah, blah, blah, blah.
You have to have the baby, you have to believe you.
Once you have the baby, they'll run out to help you.
Mm-hmm.
Good luck.
In your mixtures.
In your mixtures and your welfare queens.
And, you know...
And it just kills me.
It really kills me.
Ever once more, somebody points out to me somebody on social media wrote a post that said,
"They should give the death penalty to women who get an abortion."
That's the kind of convoluted thinking.
Yeah.
You know, she killed a fetus, so we should kill her.
How is that per life?
Yeah.
One life is more important than the other one.
It's so ridiculous.
It's just...
It's mind-namingly stupid.
And just...
People are mind-namingly stupid.
Yeah.
61% of same-sex cohabiting gay couples are married compared to 53% of heterosexual couples.
Hmm.
And...
I found this surprising.
Why?
I just really didn't think there would be more gay couples getting married than straight couples.
Hmm.
Yeah.
Perhaps it's because we couldn't for so long, you know, these couples have decided we're not going to just wander it.
Yeah.
That's true.
It could be.
And when you've struggled for so long to be recognized and be happy together, it makes you more aware that it's something that you need.
Hmm.
Yeah.
Do you think it's just also the heterosexuals just take it for granted?
Yeah, because when you get to a certain age, you know, they start asking, "Why aren't you married?"
Yeah.
What's wrong with you?
I remember before me and Karen had a deal.
I could...
This is before I was out.
And really, you know, I thought I was still straight.
Karen's good friend of mine that I grew up with.
Well, it doesn't matter.
But we had a deal when I turned 30.
And if we were still single, we would marry each other.
Never came to be.
But I know a lot of people who like joke around about that.
They don't marry their best girlfriend or guyfriend if, so...
But yeah, this a little tidbit, just kind of silly, but...
I've heard something similar to gay guys want to get married for the benefits, but can't.
And two, lesbians want to get married for the benefits.
And they can't.
So they marry each other's partners.
Shut up.
So they can actually get benefits?
Yeah.
You know, it's great that we don't have to worry about that anymore.
We had really no problem with me getting on your benefits.
Do we...
Do we have to jump through a little bit of hoops?
And we...
We've been married for so long.
No, I mean, but when we went to get benefits for...
Like health benefits through your employment.
But we were already married.
Okay.
All right.
You know, there...
There was nothing to stop them.
Yeah.
So...
Yeah, sorry about that.
Yeah, but yeah, I've heard that people have done that in the past.
And still probably do do it.
Possibly in countries where countries where it's just not allowed.
So...
It kind of would seem like an ideal situation that would be very hard to...
For any kind of government entity to overturn that.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 37 of 195 countries worldwide.
With a total population of 1.4 billion people or 17% of the world's population.
I'm surprised.
Part of me surprised that it's at the highest.
Part of me surprised that it's at low.
Only 37 countries out of almost 200.
Yeah.
That's just sad.
Yeah.
Um...
I wonder how many of those are third world countries.
Oh, I'll probably miss all of them.
In Muslim countries.
Mm-hmm.
Words.
Yeah.
17%.
You know, the world's population is gay married.
That's small.
Yeah, one out of...
That's someone out of five people.
Mm-hmm.
Well...
Yeah, I mean, what we are...
We are fortunate in the United States about what we can, you know, about marriage.
And how we are treated here compared to other countries.
Like in Muslim countries in the Middle East, you know, being hung or mutilated.
Um...
Well, our marriage came from constitutional review.
Mm-hmm.
That seems to be the way that most countries end up getting it.
And having it passed by popular vote or some politician out of the blue suggesting it hardly ever happens.
Mm-hmm.
It happens because gay people fight for it.
Make it happen.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Okay.
Do you have anything else to add to that?
No.
35 countries have definitions of marriage in their constitutions that prevent marriage between couples of the same sex.
About the same number of countries who have gay marriage.
Mm-hmm.
And have it...
It's actually written in a constitution.
In a constitution.
That's just...
That's sad.
It's awful.
That's terrible.
I mean, it's almost like a specific...
It's a hate-guide-rate-at-in-it's-in-the-constitution of the country.
You think they would be embarrassed to have animus in their words?
You think?
You would think they're probably proud of it.
A lot of them.
Yeah.
I imagine there's people in this country that wish there was written into our constitution.
Mm-hmm.
Um...
Russia is not one of those.
Even though they're very, very anti-gate, they still don't have anything anti-gate in their constitution.
Hmm.
That surprises me.
I mean, too.
That really surprises me.
Because they're very anti-gate.
Um...
Their...
Their stance on gays is that it's morally...
Oh, it's the right word.
Anyway, it's...
If you hold up a gay flag or you sing a gay song or something that you're...
You're...
Um...
A bad influence on society.
You're...
Basically, you're saying you're evil.
Mm-hmm.
But, um...
Nothing in their constitution.
Hmm.
Of course, interpreting the way that they do...
They can say anything is gay.
That's true.
It's not written in the constitution.
It's up to how or the authorities want to interpret it.
What do you think is going on like that thing?
Yeah.
That's true.
You're right.
In some ways, you know, I think it'd be better to have it in the constitution where at least you know...
Where you stand.
Yeah.
With the words are, and whether you're violating or not.
Yeah.
So it doesn't change with the wind.
Mm-hmm.
That's true.
It's very true.
But...
Uh...
Our rights.
Um...
I saw somebody on Macedon say, "Would just why do gay people need a Pride Month?"
And somebody else came along and said, "Because you don't have to worry every four years if somebody's gonna vote your rights away."
Mm-hmm.
It's true.
You're very sure.
Um...
I mean, we got it after so long, after fighting for it for so long.
And it can be taken away just like that.
That's very scary.
Um...
No, but we need that Pride Month because people need to know.
There's still so many kids out there that are killing themselves.
When they, you know what I mean, they figure out that they are gay.
Mm-hmm.
And we have a right to be proud.
Um...
And if you could take them to a parade where there's half a billion people.
Mm-hmm.
Just like them.
Yeah.
Or something like that.
Because, you know, we are, we still are a minority.
Mm-hmm.
But very large minority, but we are a minority.
Um...
Now they're thinking maybe as much as 17% of the population, which is enough to shift any election.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
Our vote matters.
Mm-hmm.
Very much so.
So people get out and vote.
This again, you might not think it does matter.
Especially on a local level.
So...
Especially if you're gay and you're married.
Mm-hmm.
You vote to keep that.
Yeah.
'Cause everyone is cast.
Keep going.
Yeah.
And how the...
Everything would change in, you know, all the legal documents and things.
You know, you'd take for granted as yours because you're married.
Mm-hmm.
Would suddenly go away.
So it would affect your life more than you think it would.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, it means some people just, when it's like money, you know, it will affect a lot of other people's lives also.
Mm-hmm.
I mean, like, if they did take away, would we still be able to have health insurance together?
It would just depend on the limbs of the company.
Mm-hmm.
You know what I mean?
It was before.
Mm-hmm.
So...
Okay.
Female same-sex marriage is practiced in Kenya in Nigeria.
However, this is not a scene as homosexual.
But it's instead a way for families without sons to perpetuate inheritance and family.
And family lineage.
I found that that fact to be quite interesting.
I think that's...
Especially Kenya and Nigeria, who are the two probably most anti-gay countries in the world.
They'll kill you, okay?
Mm-hmm.
I think it's like being a death penalty.
Definitely be heading or something like that, if they find out, yeah.
But they let women get married for inheritance.
That's bizarre.
That's very bizarre.
Hmm.
Now, it could be...
It could come from a long line of African culture, I don't know.
Okay.
Yeah.
That's the only thing I could imagine.
So, like, way back when...
Like, the social norm that's been passed down through generations.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
That has to be it.
That's what be the only thing that would make sense to me.
Mm-hmm.
Would you agree?
Well, and we often talk about, you know, the advantage of gay marriages.
The rights and responsibilities that come with marriage.
But, that's not the reason people get married.
People don't get married for legal documents.
They get married because they love each other.
People should be, that's the idea they should with their family.
And more straight people seem to do that.
For...
Do what?
For, um, not out of love, but more of the other...
Are you talking about arranged marriage?
Yeah.
Hmm.
But no, gay people...
I haven't heard of any arranged gay marriage.
No.
But that's what I'm saying, is gay people get married out of love
where straight people seem to get married just because they can.
Hmm.
Maybe two stop the pressure from others and why aren't you getting married?
Shock and wedding.
Oh, yes.
So, yeah, I don't think that was my mother's wedding yesterday.
I was probably shocked at that.
You better watch what we're doing if you do have a little brother on the way.
I mean, it could make a national name.
Or it says the little brother, little sister.
That would be a little, yeah, so it's not even an attempt to...
Attempts fate or anything with that.
That would be, well...
Because someone's...
Your mom's old enough where if that...
Knowing this will never ever happen.
But who would raise the kid?
Hmm.
Not me, you knew.
So...
Oh, I don't know.
Like, we'd probably step up.
But...
Yeah.
Okay.
All right.
So, I guess, again, nothing else that's, you know, that's a matter.
This actually...
I thought this was going to be a very depressing conversation.
You did?
Yeah, but actually...
I thought these facts were fascinating.
Yeah.
No, they aren't there.
But sometimes this can either go one way or the other.
Sometimes, especially with...
You know...
Having just gone to a marriage yesterday or wedding yesterday, I thought these were appropriate.
Yeah.
So...
Yeah, it was interesting, definitely.
And it was a good topic today.
So, how about...
What's your favorite joke this week, though?
Did you know that all marriages are same-sex marriages?
No.
You get married, and from then on, it's the same-sex.
Yeah.
All the time.
Yeah.
[laughs]
All right.
We hope you enjoyed episode 106 of the Baehr and Curadh podcast.
This is Baehr.
This is Curadh.
Goodbye.
You have been listening to the Baehr and Curadh podcast, a production of the Land of Awes Information Services.
We can be contacted via email using the address podcast@awes.com
And Awes is spelled A-W-E-S.
This show is part of the Pride48 Network.
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