By Joe Richard
Thousands of people from all over the country will gather in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 10 and 11 to demand the Obama administration finally guarantee full legal rights for the LGBTQ community. After generations of legal discrimination, the time has come for folks to get out of the trenches and move onto the attack. The march aims to overturn the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy of the Clinton years, the Defense of Marriage Act and any other barrier to full equality.
During the last eight years, we knew Bush would never lift a finger to strike down the discriminatory laws, which relegate gays and lesbians to the status of second-class citizens. But with a Democratic president and Congress, we have a fresh opportunity to win reforms at the federal level, and we should not let it be squandered. In the words of the rock band Rage Against the Machine, “What better place than here? What better time than now?”
It’s a good question, considering the resistance from some liberal circles to this controversial march. I’ve had liberals and conservatives both tell me, “Now look, I’m supportive of gay rights and all that jazz, but I just don’t think the government should be able to tell churches who to marry and what to do.”
This is quite possibly the biggest load of horseshit of our generation. And interestingly enough, it’s a similar argument used by the people who defended Jim Crow segregation laws, especially the laws that banned interracial marriage. It was only in 1967 that these anti-miscegenation laws were overturned in a Supreme Court ruling, which struck down the Racial Integrity Act of 1924. It’s the same old argument of, “I know some things aren’t good right now, but the government shouldn’t be able to tell private institutions what to do.”
Oh really? How the hell else did black folks do away with segregated lunch counters, buses, hospitals, schools and military jobs? It’s a ridiculous back-door justification for the idea that separate is equal, and it should not be tolerated.
Others have told me, “Oh, we should just wait and see. Maybe Obama will do something about it. Give him some time.” How long exactly do we have to wait for Obama to do the right thing, especially considering his track record so far? Letting torturers off the hook, stepping up the rich men’s war in Afghanistan, caving in without so much as a playground slapping match to the filthy crooks in the health care lobby, the bailout drunk bankers, the real estate lobby, and the sniveling gangsters in the Chamber of Commerce.
Considering what he’s already done, or perhaps what he hasn’t done, I’d say it’s about high time to put some heat on Obama through mass mobilizations, Congressional sit ins and outpourings of public protest. If these cynical posers who are disrupting health care town hall meetings are getting media attention through their disgusting practices, let’s show Obama what real pressure actually looks like.
I’ve also encountered a more radical critique of the calls for this march, which argues that people should not participate because the fight for gay rights shouldn’t include marriage equality as one of its demands, as the two partner marriage reinforces hetero-normative relationships (presumably like the Leave It To Beaver style nuclear family, with a white-picket-fenced house and a loyal dog).
As a straight, young, single college male, I don’t want to do anything that encourages hetero-normative behavior. After working as a dish-pit stiff at my catering job and witnessing dozens of stale weddings, I have no intention of ever being hetero-normative. I’m just not the marrying type (in fact, after a particularly bad wedding this summer, I decided that I actually prefer attending funerals rather than weddings). At least at funerals you don’t have to witness the pathetically intoxicated groom stand in front of a room of wedding guests and attempt to sing “Wonderful Tonight” by Eric Clapton to his ashen faced bride. Or the attendees at the wedding glaring at you while you take a cherished smoke break, because yes, your apron is spattered with blood and food particles, and yes, you are sweaty and filthy, and yes, you are the unattractive character that actually cooked the food that they will be eating all night.
However, I do also feel that people are entitled to a legal relationship that guarantees them legal benefits like tax breaks, which they simply do not have access to without marriage. It’s a fairly recent historical phenomenon that people view marriage as a relationship that has anything to do with love or romance, and in fact, many people still do not view it this way (just take a look at all the news stories of the last few years documenting various Republican Congressmen having sexual encounters with prostitutes and/or aides and staffers).
I’m not arguing that marriage should be divorced from love either. I’m simply pointing out that marriage has proven to be a remarkably flexible institution capable of adapting to the social relationships of the times, and to have a view of it as a timeless cornerstone of our society (as so many people do) is to be stubbornly ignorant at best, or just pissing in the wind at worst. Besides, even Iowa has legally protected gay marriage, and last I heard the social threads of the state have not unraveled and anarchy does not prevail.
Whether we personally intend to ever get married or not, whatever our sexual orientation, the option should be open to us. And the fact that it is not for gays and lesbians in this country at a federal level is an embarrassing blight for our country. Yes, this is a reform, and as such, it is not a complete solution to the problems, but it is a good step forward.
If you’re interested in joining us in D.C. for what should be an historic moment in the struggle for gay rights, send an email to gainesvilleiso@gmail.com. We could use your help.
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