Monday, March 07, 2016

Gay Marriage

I never gave a toss about gay marriage. It is a bold step backwards, as far as I am concerned. I think it is conforming to a paradigm that is ostensibly a failure. It undoes all the good work that we have done defining our relationships over the years to be whatever we wanted them to be, despite everybody else, despite the disapproving world. It is conforming to a majority that we were never a part of, deliciously so. It is a desperate attempt to be "normal" that is how I always looked at it. 

What will gay marriage give us? Gay divorce.

That was until the christian right told me that I couldn't get married. That was when I changed my mind.

"I'm sorry? Why can't we get married?" Please don't refer back to that oldie worldie book of fiction. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. It just doesn't cut it.

And the point really is, that there is no good reason why gay people shouldn't get married.

Of course, there never has been a reason that made any sense as to why gay people couldn't get married. At a completely logical level, surely more people getting married will only strengthen marriage?  There still is no reason why gay people should be barred from the tired, old, imperfect institution. 

None. So why can't we? Shrug. Hands in the air. I don't want to, but those of us who do, why can't they?

The reason I liked the best, which made most sense, was that woman have such trouble keeping their boyfriends and husbands on the straight and narrow (pun intended) that is monogamously married, that they couldn't afford for any distraction to come along for their boyfriends and husbands to justify their infidelities. 

"If they can do it, surely I can do... " 

So their objections were about keeping straight marriage narrowly defined so as to keep the straight boys under their thumbs. The bit that made sense, was that their objections were about them, not about us. So, in other words, gay people were to be sacrificed in the best interests of heterosexual marriage.

Of course, the reason I love the best is, Why shouldn't gay people be as unhappy as their straight brothers and sisters. Why indeed?

It is time that (the formerly progressive country) Australia has a vote in parliament and gets it over and done with, so those of us who want to get married can, and all of us can finally shut up about it.

And you know, if my partner really wanted to, if it was important to him, you never know, I might say... but he doesn't, so there you go.

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