I can't see that there is not a valid and legitimate reason of there being “gays” - many may be hermaphrodites, they do exist in nature, and any action by any person to damage their ability to live a natural life is not to be encouraged or allowed. According to medical reports, the determination of the difference of what sex a person is going to be, rests on two chromosomes and it has been a quirk of nature that this pops up in unexpected people. If this happens in nature where it can be explained with the belief that some portion of that particular chromosome (if this is possible) can exist in any other person, and care has to be taken, not to harm those people, they have no protection against such a condition. Is it natures way to see if we are really tolerant? Mariage between "gays" should possibly be a slightly different format to normal weddings, but I don't know how or why.

omg why does it need some sort of medical explanation? sexuality is complex - part nature, part nurture, part environment...and a very wide gamut of sexual preference exists. Within hetero relationships you have fetishes - can that be explained via biology? No.

There's no point in talking about 'how or why' people are gay, or(let's not forget we bisexuals who are not gender specific when it comes to sexual and emotional attraction towards minds as well bodies)we must instead just accept that it's a normal part of the spectrum of the human condition.

Adult people, regardless of sex, if they are keen to put their commitment in legal terms, why not let them. Seriously - where is the harm?

Being heterosexual does not guarantee fidelity or superior parenting skills. I can cite my own parents as two prime examples.

The topic of this discussion, was about free speech...and I guess while ever money is involved, there's no such thing. In order for this website to exist, it needs money...and the way to get money is to become popular. Sometimes popularily comes at the expense of controversy and controversy sometimes gets you in hot water.

We can't all agree, this is true, but we can always be kind and civil...and stick to the topic at hand.

We're clear thinking adults aren't we?

On the matter of advertisers, surely a good start would be a simple disclaimer, perhaps along the lines of:
"The advertisers on this site are happy and proud to support the fine Australian traditions of free speech and open, even vigorous debate. It should never be assumed however, that any particular advertiser endorses the views of any particular contributor on any particular subject."
On the matter of moderation (of comments) a simple answer I would suggest would be to inject a smidgen of Democracy. In the same way that x number of people can 'like' a comment, show how many people disliked a comment. when the number reaches a set amount, the comment is deleted and the commenter barred from further comments on that thread.
If you want an entity to grow and have a life of its own, you have to loosen the apron strings.

Isn’t that what keeps us coming back?

As to a bias in deletions, in many years of vigorous debate I’ve never had a comment deleted (so far as I remember) and have never recommended deletion of any comments for ideology or abuse (only spammers etc).

The key question here is whether anyone should try to choke off the funding of a website for hosting – not even advocating – a position they disagree with. This is a fundamental attack on free speech

Posted by Rhian, Tuesday, 8 February 2011 3:34:24 PM

Exactly Rhian.

"The key question here is whether anyone should try to choke off the funding of a website for hosting – not even advocating – a position they disagree with. This is a fundamental attack on free speech"

Posted by Rhian, Tuesday, 8 February 2011 3:34:24 PM

Agreed that is one of the problems. What are the effective remedies though?

Another serious problem is the ease with which trolls and sock puppets are able to exist on the site and argue with moderators. Arguing with mods, provoking fights with members and endlessly challenging rules are favoured modi operandi of the internet troll.

There are solutions that most sites employ to survive and provide an enjoyable experience for members. One of the proactive treatments I would like to see introduced ASAP is a requirement for all members to provide and maintain a real internet address with an ISP, not Hotmail, Gmail or similar.

Well I am a bit late finding out about this funding removal for OLO as I have been a week without electricity after cyclone Vasi vented it’s power up here in North Queensland. I have no objections to becoming a paying member and will send the same to-morrow. On Line Opinion is a wonderful website and full marks to Graham and whoever else helps to run it.

Suppressing the opinions of people doesn’t work, they just go on thinking the same thing but not saying so. Better to have their opinions out in the open where they can be debated or challenged.

I have had the occasional opinion deleted by Graham myself, and I knew he was right and I had gone too far. Sometimes If I modified the offending comment he would allow it to pass.

Being gay or not is just the luck of the draw, the way the genetic soup comes together. They had no idea about genetics back in biblical days the same way they had no idea that the earth wasn’t the centre of the Universe and had to change the biblical text. Would God have really condemned anybody because of their genetic coding?