The National Organization for Marriage is making rounds along the eastern United States trying to convince people that marriage is between one man and one woman (probably in that order of importance). So, I feel that I should say something about marriage equality.
Frankly, I dislike marriage. It has many of its roots in men owning women, there is often a [non-consensual or problematic] power imbalance, it promotes assimilation of the LGBTQ community, and, in its current mainstream U.S. form, it is not inclusive of polyamory. It also often has religious connections that make it a murky political issue.
But, I still support marriage equality. First, I believe in reclaiming things in a positive and progressive manor. I use and identify with the word “queer,” which even now is sometimes used in a degrading and derogatory way. Similarly, today marriage, for many people, is much different that it was at its roots. Civil marriage, meaning the marriage recognized by the federal government, has little to do with religion, though many people fail to realize that. Besides, the government should not be dealing with matters of religion, for that would be denying people with other views their freedom of religion. Finally, there are so many rights that LGBTQ couples deserve that the federal government only grants to married couples. I think many/most[/all?] of these rights should not be tied to marriage and some of them are perhaps unnecessary, but that is too many battles and too many bills/laws/orders to attempt to pass to be effective. Besides, many of the same people who argue against “gay marriage” also argue against “marriage-like rights.”
To sum up my views, if civil marriage is an option for heterosexual couples, it should be an option for all consenting couples. At the moment, I don’t see myself as taking that option. This is my view on many things. For example, I strongly oppose war. But, I realistically do not see the U.S. completely disbanding the military in the near future. So, since heterosexuals and cisgender individuals can be open about their sexuality and gender identity in the military, LGBTQ individuals should be able to do the same.
For me, both of these issues are less important that, for example, a fully-inclusive Employee Non-Discrimination Act, helping homeless LGBTQ youth, and addressing homophobia and transphobia in the police force. Unfortunately, most of the large organizations’ money and time seem to be going toward these things.
As always, feel free to express similar/differing opinions or to start a conversation about something I said. I like hearing other, respectfully stated ideas and I like to be well-informed on issues.
(Note: I realize I only mentioned assimilation. I may explore it further in the future.)
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