To think that this is just a silly reaction on behalf of gay people?

[Jesssime]

Don't misunderstand me, I support gay people having full access to same rights as opposite sex people. Always have done. As somebody has somebody close to me who is gay, I like to keep abreast of gay news.

But I don't know, isn't the following just a bit over the top:

I mean, Yes, I'm totally fine with same sex marriage, but I'm not going to take to the streets and party over it. I'm guessing that it's not that big a deal to the majority of us-this doesn't mean that anybody's against it at all, but that it really IS no big deal. So why are they expecting the news channels to give it much coverage?

www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/07/19/whitehall-questions-why-equal-marriage-was-largely-ignored-by-bbc-channel-4-and-other-media/

[IThinkOfHappyWhenIThinkOfYou]

OP, did you see the debate in the House of Commons? I did, start to end. It was one of the most moving things I've ever seen. Margot James and Toby Perkins almost had me in tears. There were so many personal stories, so many MPs nailing their colours to the mast, so many declaring their intention to vote 'yes' because of their Christian convictions, not in spite of them. There were several MPs who moved from No to Yes that day and the passing of the law means that the gen pop will move to, and even if they don't they can no longer hide behind a law that allows gay people to be treated as second best.

[Jesssime]

It's good that it has not got much coverage in the news.

It means that people have accepted it and moved on with their lives.

What would you prefer? Mass rioting in the streets against it?

But, really, to expect the reverse is also silly: the vast majority aren't going to be saying that this is the best news since the invention of The Pill either.

To be honest, there is something of the bully about the complaints about little coverage of this story:

'It's like: celebrate and make a big fuss over this or else!' But I don't want to celebrate it. It's right that gay people should be allowed to marry, I agree, but why should anybody else feel obliged to join in the fuss over it?

[TheOrchardKeeper]

It doesn't even need to be celebrated...just covered

No coverage does NOT mean that people have moved on. Some obviously will have but it doesn't mean things are now magically ok and there's no more need for the GR movement.

[SweetBabyJebus]

But it is fair too say that the vast majority of people in this country are not bothered about gay people getting married.
Speak for yourself Jesssime, I for one am delighted and am surprised there has been no coverage. And I have no close friends or family directly affected by this, but am purely happy for this step that society as a whole has made. And I am not alone in feeling this way - the majority of my friends and family share my delight.

[GettingVerySleepy]

Well, a number of people have tried to explain this to you Jesssime but you're just not getting it so I'm going to move on. But just one last point, replace "gay marriage" with "royal baby" in your last paragraph and it actually makes sense, yet that hasn't stopped the maniacal media frenzy on the topic!

[Splashsplosh]

The vast majority of people have moved on from Harry Potter but Daniel Radcliffe still gets plenty of news coverage every time he does a new fart. No/little news coverage doesn't reflect how accepting people are and how they've moved on, it's more akin to "we don't want to know thanks" which is sad at best, bigoted at worst.

It doesn't affect anyone very close to me and I still think it's a MASSIVE deal, even just the dull Royal Assent bit. Am very disappointed the media have chosen not to make a huge deal of it - if I have to listen to 10 minutes on the latest celeb breakdown or film premiere then I should get at least equal info/coverage on something as monumental as this. It'd be like broadcasting nothing about the moon landing from the moment Neil Armstrong shoved his foot down and saying "yeah, well, they made it, what more can you say, we're so over it".

[DamnDeDoubtance]

Wow...just wow....
So you think we shouldn't show anything contentious in case it incites bigoted people to riot...

[IThinkOfHappyWhenIThinkOfYou]

In the words of Martin Luther King Jr "The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict."

OP, you might think that the apathy of a nation is a reflection of it's 'it's totally fine' attitude but I think it's what it is. Apathy. How many of these majority totally fine people have lobbied for this, written letters, signed petitions etc? Not very many. This is not because they are 'totally fine' with it, although they may be 'totally fine' that is incidental. It is because they are apathetic and whist you see that as a virtue, I cannot help but see it as a vice. The majority of the country don't vote, not even in a general election. Would you be happy to get rid of the vote as most people don't really bother with it? Most people who have put any thought into it see marriage equality as a good thing, even if it doesn't directly effect them, the majority not putting any thought into it is not a positive step towards true equality, it's a back slide and one day we will pay the price for it.

[Jesssime]

kim147

It's not big news.

No I'm sorry, I used to shrug off claims that there was an element of gay bullying in the gay rights movement.

I'm not sure anymore. Apparently, it's not enough to accept equal marriage, people have to actively care about it, too, well I don't care about marriage full stop. It doesn't seem to work well for heterosexual people; don't see why I should change my mindset and say it's marvellous for gay people and lie.

[Jesssime]

IThinkOfHappyWhenIThinkOfYou,

Hottest place in hell?!

Guess I was right about the bullying.

[Alisvolatpropiis]

OP

That is a quote.

People disagreeing with you isn't bullying,it's a fact of life.

[Lj8893]

jess you don't have to care or celebrate or anything, that's completely fine.

But it is big news and should have some news coverage.

Like I said, you are impartial to it, fine, many others are impartial to it, fine. But many others view it as big news.

[GettingVerySleepy]

Yes, MLK jr, that well known bully. I think you are being a little over sensitive Jesssime (ie exactly what you said to me....).

[DamnDeDoubtance]

I think the issue here is that it has been massively under reported.

[Binkyridesagain]

This isn't about whether marriage works or not, or if you or anyone else approves of marriage.

This is about a group of people that where denied rights because of their sexuality. It wasn't just a small group of bigots that discriminated against another small group. It was a LAW that discriminated against a minority, based on who they choose to spend their lives with.

[IThinkOfHappyWhenIThinkOfYou]

Martin Luther King Jr was a black civil rights campaigner in America. I thought everyone knew that. He received the nobel peace prize for fighting racial inequality. His quote refers to the idea that evil will triumph if good men do nothing. You think your apathy is a reflection of your accepting attitude. I think it sucks.

[TheOrchardKeeper]

You don't care.

To me, when it's something this important, not caring is not much better than being against it, for all the use it does. I think that's what the MLK quote was being used to emphasize.

I'm straight as a ruler but I still feel that it's important to fight for equality of others. Because, by nature lgbt people are in the minority the more straight people that add their voice to the cause the better, surely. I feel that way about all sorts of issues not just gay rights.

If everyone that was 'ok' with it kept their mouths shut and eyes to the floor then this law wouldn't have been passed at all.

[DamnDeDoubtance]

It's a great quote Alisvolatpropiis I was thinking of the Edmund Burke quote "All it takes for evil to succeed is for a few good men to do nothing"

[Alisvolatpropiis]

It is a great quote!

[Jesssime]

Alivolapropiis, so why are a small group of gay people now in effect demanding that people make out that their right to marriage is headline news AND say how marvellous it is to boot?

The right to it has been achieved. Nobody seems to have started riots against it. That should be good enough.

I accept the live and let live philosophy when it comes to gay people, why can't they accept others right to react as they wish, too? The BBC et al have a right to choose things that they deem to be newsworthy.

[FamiliesShareGerms]

This is an exceptionally big story, both for all the reasons eloquently set out upthread, and because it is something that David Cameron has championed despite profound opposition from his back benches and party members, and may yet cost him politically. If only because of the Westminster Village angle I'm genuinely surprised that this has had so little coverage.

[TheOrchardKeeper]

it is headline news...it's just not been made so for whatever reasons

[DamnDeDoubtance]

Of topic but my favourite Martin Luther quote is

?Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.?

[IThinkOfHappyWhenIThinkOfYou]

Actually, the BBC aren't supposed to show bias in reporting. They do all the time, but they are not within their rights to do so. I can't believe you don't know this so I am going to assume that you are a wind up merchant and bow out now.