5 Comments

1. 

   acilius

    /  February 11, 2009

   Great video! Thanks for posting it.

   Some years ago I read a law review article by a gay liberationist who opposed same-sex marriage for the same reasons he opposed opposite-sex marriage. I wish I’d been doing “Periodicals Notes” then- I haven’t been able to find the article since. So here’s a link to a piece about the controversy between assimilationists who want same-sex marriage so that gays can be more like straights and liberationists who want to abolish all institutions that privilege some sexual relationships over others.

   http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/other_stories/multi-page/documents/03979297.asp

2. 

   cymast

    /  February 11, 2009

   You’re welcome.

   If a “gay liberationist” doesn’t want to get married, then a “gay liberationist” doesn’t have to get married. Same with a straight liberationist or a gay assimilationist or a straight assimilationist. It’s not a difficult concept. All consenting adults must have the legal right to choose whether to be legally married in a truly liberated society. People educate themselves regarding the ramifications of their legal decisions, and then make informed personal choices.

   If you think my marriage causes you to experience hardship I don’t experience, you still do not have the right to tell me whether I can or cannot be married.

3. 

   acilius

    /  February 11, 2009

   I’m an assimilationist myself. It’s okay with me that we have an institution like marriage that designates long-term monogamous relationships as the norm, not only because coupledom is something I like for myself but also because the people I know who seem happiest are all either actually coupled or at least define their sexuality in terms of coupledom. But I can see why there are people who argue that it’s unfair to privilege coupledom above other sexualities.

4. 

   cymast

    /  February 11, 2009

   I would venture to say that “long-term monogamous relationships” are the norm only for people in “long-term monogamous relationships.” As for privileging coupledom above other sexualities- it’s all a trade-off.

5. 

   cymast

    /  February 12, 2009

   How poignant for Valentine’s Day:

   http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=769430