we must preserve same-sex marriage
By now most everyone knows that I am a vocal critic of the methods and messages that were used in achieving same-sex rights in Massachusetts. I still believe that marriage should be viewed as a transitional demand on the path to full queer liberation, and that the shiny red white and blue imagery has done nothing to help us, but- and this is a biiig but - we absolutely cannot let the legislators allow same-sex marriage to be put to the voters. If that happens we can expect thousands of anti-gay radio, television, and billboard advertisements to saturate our society. The right-wing will be fired up like never before, and our community will suffer the most. As violence against LGBT people increases, which it always does when issues like marriage are of high concern in the media, it will be those who conform the least who will be most at risk - the trans, the feminine gay boys, the butch lesbians, etc. Whether or not I agree with how we got where we are, or even where we are in the gay rights movement, this is one instance as a queer person I will have to say we must keep gay marriage legal!
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2 comments:
Mark,
Right on! Same sex marriage should not go to the voters. Setting the precedent of having civil rights decided by the majority is lethal not only to queers, but to all minority populations. Securing rights for the unpopular, marginalized communities should not be decided on the whim of the current majority.
I would have to say that following the example and path of Loving vs. Virginia 1967 is, in my opinion, the right way to combat discrimination and promote equality. People have to start getting comfortable with the idea of seeing gay couples together in public without having issues, and legitimizing gay marriage will have a huge impact towards this desired effect.
There is a podcast from Stamford University where a gay Professor with his PHD from Harvard in the sixties that explains much better than I can why gay marriage is so important. Check it out if you like...
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