Elonka wrote:
] Okay, how's this for a scenario: Joe marries Jack. Joe and
] Jack adopt a baby.

I agree that questions about homosexual adoption are complex. I'm not sure I know enough about it to have an opinion. I'm sure that sociologists and child psychologists have studied the question, but I'm not sure what their answers are. In any event, I think this question is tangental to the one at hand. Allowing for same sex marriage does not imply allowing for homosexual adoption.

(BTW, my real opinion on this issue is that "Marriage" is a religious concept that is the domain of churches and not governments. Governments should only recognize civil unions on whatever basis they democratically conclude and stop referring to Marriage all together. Religions ought to freely decide what marriage means to them without imposition from the government. I think this is a libertarian point of view.)

] Marriage isn't just "a cool idea". It's something with
] thousands of generations of history and laws and economic
] policy that are based on the concept of marriage being between
] opposite genders, though there are of course differences in
] how marriage is regarded in different cultures.

Marriage is an institution that has changed dramatically over that history to adapt to changes in economic and social needs. Traditionally it was a way of connecting families together for the purpose of reproduction and in most societies it was arranged. Its only in recent history that marriages have been considered consensual, equal relationships that primary occur for love. In that context homosexual marriages make sense, whereas they might not have made sense in the framework that marriage existed in 150 years ago.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/living/2001888924_marriagehistory29m.html

] I'm curious now though: Is there any historical precedent
] anywhere about a culture or country or kingdom that sanctioned
] homosexual weddings? Like in ancient Greece? I'd be curious
] to see such a list, if you can find one?

(I often feel like these discussions I get into on this site are essentially me performing non-consenual google searches and summaries for people. :) )

This (controversial) book seems to discuss the question you're asking:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0679751645/103-7894841-1928614?v=glance

This wikipedia article seems to discuss similar things, but I can't find it on their site anymore and clearly it is also disputed.
http://www.fact-index.com/s/sa/same_sex_marriage.html

RE: The Values-Vote Myth