And not only that, what kind of argument is same-sex animals don't mate? Are they using animal behavior as some kind of norm?

Same-sex animal mating no only happens, it is surprisingly common among certain species.

Chimpanzees use it as a form of social interaction, male giraffes copulate much more often with other males than females, lizards do it to increase fertility and dolphins do it up the blowhole.

This dude needs to read "Dr Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation" by Olivia Judson. It would blow his mind...

I love how people selectively use animals as the standard for human behavior. When it comes to teh gayz, it's all, "That's not what animals do!" But when it comes to everything else, we're supposed to be "more evolved than that." Make up your fucking mind, Christians! Are we Gods Chosen, Uniquely Imbued With a Sense of Morality, or are we nothing more than beasts?

Would you want this man in the picture around your kids! Just look at the hatred in the sign. Calling Gay people animals is such a hateful thing to do and I'm sure this man is a so called god fearing christian. People like this make me sick. I'm sure this comment will make him mad and he will most likely take it out on his wife and kids.

It's fun to watch them desperately grasp at straws like that.

Did N-E of U Actually read the sign?????????? I see that some of U R saying that the person with the sign said well just read urselfs what u wrote. His sign simple states that: "Same sex animals don't mate- GOD BLESS!!!!!!!! U all sure read alot more into that then what is says. Seems to me ur the ones angry & name calling & full of hated & hateful remakes.

"It’s fun to watch them desperately grasp at straws like that."

Totally. For me, it's mainly because they honestly seem to believe that these are good arguments.

*snort* at the remark above mine.

My first thought when i saw this was that it was untrue. I seem to remember that Seattle Slew (the racehorse) was a "reticent breeder" (as gay horses are called)...

KnightSlayerRon - um . . . what? what was does gibberish you posted mean?

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/4170/bilde.jpg

KnightSlayerRon, and any others who are baffled by thought-provoking reactions to this sign: You'll notice the title of this website is "Contexts." Human communication does not exist in a vacuum. This guy is not just making a neutral statement about animals.

Think about what it is: it's a protest sign. What is it protesting? The man took the time to stand outside the capitol building and object to the gay marriage decision by the Iowa supreme court. The sign-holder is urging Governor Culver to override the decision. He wants Iowa to continue denying marriage rights to gay people. He's calling gay people unnatural. This most certainly constitutes hate speech if you happen be in a relationship that this man has judged to be undeserving of basic human rights like the right to marry.

And you don't get a pass for tossing a "God Bless" at the end of hate speech.

Can someone help me understand what he means? Does he mean that we shouldn't have gay marriage because animals don't mate with the same sex? I don't really get that argument, because they do, and humans are animals...

Louisa- Maybe he is saying that humans shouldn't get married. I haven't seen any animals get married other than in "Froggie Went A-Courtin'" and THAT didn't turn out very well at all.

AJS nailed it. Not only is he against gay marriage, he's against marriage altogether. This man would destroy the tradition, nay the very institution, of marriage and replace it with a world where men and women merely "mate". How American is that?!?!?

What animals do you know of choose a mate of the same sex as a life long partner? Through all of my research I have found none other than the human if you'd like to call us an animal. Now there are many hurt homosexual men and women out there that fear their rights have been taken from them. This is not a good argument for you and nor is any other. Let me ask you this, is any sexual orientation to be approached as a right to make public? Where do you draw a line? Is it homosexual behavior that is okay or is polygamy and bisexuality also to be approached in the same matter? It seems to me it would be hypocritical to tell a bisexual that he or she can't marry 2. I don't see the reasoning for any religion, sexual orientation, or any specific group to force their beliefs on the rest of the world. If you have chosen to attack the social structure out of love then why do you force hate back at the world? The word "marriage" is not to be used as lightly as we have chosen to toss it around today. Marriage is not just about love it's about goal to strive for as a species. Every person will not become gay because we allow gay-marriage but doesn't it then make the word less meaningful? I have many gay friends. Most of which agree they had chosen at a young age to be so. They once had the same curiousity for a woman as they do now for a man. The only genetical proof out there explains how a person is more likely to be gay then another. There is so much information I feel you have overlooked should you disagree with what I've stated. Or maybe I have overlooked something...? Either way if you feel you have something more impressive to say make sure it intertwines the "Big Picture" as well. Whether you be religious or a strong believer in evolution either way our goal is still the same. We all strive to live the best of lives we can and look to create a better world for the next to come.

Justin:

Heterosexual marriages end in divorce half the time. Marriage is about as serious as the couple makes it. That is their prerogative, to treat the institution of marriage as they see fit and not have to conform to any sort of high ideal or goal for our species. It's a simple commitment between two people that allows for society to give them certain legal rights. Just because some people think it is something sacred or that marriage is a part of a "big picture" does not mean we all do. The word will have as much meaning as you or any other individual give it. It is not up to you to decide what society should think or strive for, and it is not your right to decide that gay people bring down the value of the word "marriage" and cheapen it, or make it less meaningful.

"Justin"
Actually, some same-sex birds do do it. So do beetles, sheep, fruit bats, dolphins, and orangutans. Zoologists are discovering that homosexual and bisexual activity is not unknown within the animal kingdom.

Roy and Silo, two male chinstrap penguins at New York's Central Park Zoo have been inseparable for six years now. They display classic pair-bonding behavior—entwining of necks, mutual preening, flipper flapping, and the rest. They also have sex, while ignoring potential female mates.

Wild birds exhibit similar behavior. There are male ostriches that only court their own gender, and pairs of male flamingos that mate, build nests, and even raise foster chicks.

Filmmakers recently went in search of homosexual wild animals as part of a National Geographic Ultimate Explorer documentary about the female's role in the mating game. (The film, Girl Power, will be screened in the U.S this Saturday at 8 p.m. ET, 5 p.m PT on MSNBC TV.)

The team caught female Japanese macaques engaged in intimate acts which, if observed in humans, would be in the X-rated category.

"The homosexual behavior that goes on is completely baffling and intriguing," says National Geographic Ultimate Explorer correspondent, Mireya Mayor. "You would have thought females that want to be mated, especially over their fertile period, would be seeking out males."

Well, perhaps, in a roundabout way, they are seeking males, suggests primatologist Amy Parish.

She argues that female macaques may enhance their social position through homosexual intimacy which in turn influences breeding success. Parish says, "Taking something that's nonreproductive, like mounting another female—if it leads to control of a resource or acquisition of a resource or a good alliance partner, that could directly impact your reproductive success."

You know most of the comments on this page seems to homosexuals which is not the norm. People were not asked their opion on this, they just wiggled their way to a judge that they could covince to go their way. Why didn't they ask the public their opion? Because they now that it would not of passed a LEGAL vote. People should start thinking of the whole and not the minority!