How is this STILL up for “debate”?

Jump to Comments

The struggle for equality for GLBTQ folks and the great marriage “debate” is one of those great political clusterfucks that I will never, ever understand. Put it in the “Seriously? Still? What the fuck?!” file along with “no constitutional amendment prohibiting gender discrimination” and “rape continuing to exist.” From the second it was part of public discourse, I just didn’t get what issue people could take with something that has NOTHING TO FUCKING DO WITH THEM! How can we even call this a “debate”? I mean, we all know fundies and Republicans just love to stick their slimy noses in our personal lives and bedrooms, but don’t they have something better to do than trying to prevent law-abiding, tax-paying citizens from exercising their basic, civil rights? Aren’t there still hungry people and shit?

(On the “law-abiding citizen” note, I should mention that PRISON INMATES are granted the right to marry, as long as they’re marrying someone of the opposite sex. So, uh, we give criminals more rights than we give gay people. Gay)

The never-ending struggle for marriage equality is yet another example of how a) Christians have completely taken over a country that is not supposed to have a single religious affiliation, b) separation of church and state doesn’t really exist, and c) fundies are big, huge, whiny pussies. Show me one, single, legitimate argument against the legalization of gay marriage that isn’t inherently fueled by religious ideology. Need a hint? They don’t exist. Not one. Even when the right points to “scientific research” that ridiculously inflates the supposed “societal damage” of allowing gay people to be married and have families like human beings, the studies are completely inadmissible because they’re always sponsored by a Christian Right group with an agenda and a really glaring self-fulfilling prophecy. The “dangers” they point to are only dangerous to fucking idiots (like “children of gay couples are less likely to conform to rigid gender roles.” Uh…so?). In fact, the only conclusive negative effects these studies ever actually prove are THE RESULTS OF HOMOPHOBIA. These wingnuts are fond of saying “gay marriage and gay adoption should be illegal because children of gay couples are x times more likely to be ridiculed and bullied in school.” Um, wow. Leave it to fundies to use their own discriminatory behavior as a reason to allow discrimination. That’s…special.

And yes, the Jesus Right are big fucking baby babies because they actually claim that GLBTQ marriage infringes on their rights. What?! We’ve all heard this: “oh, gay marriage destroys the sanctity of heterosexual marriage.” Wha…? How, exactly? First of all, marriage isn’t a tangible thing – it’s all in our heads! It’s completely subjective, it’s however you want to think of it. And if a couple of dudes in nice suits declaring their love for each other is enough to take down your own marriage, you probably didn’t have a decent shot anyway. Like the minute we legalize gay marriage all of a sudden 50% of hetero marriages will just inherently fall apart? Wait a minute…

And of course, along with 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, the fundies blame the gays for the high divorce rate and the total shitheap spectacle that marriage has turned into, which makes a lot of sense since, um, gay people can’t get married. That’s like losing the big football game and then blaming it on the benchwarming B team. You can’t ruin shit when you don’t get a chance to play.

Listening to these fucking assholes whine on and on about how GLBTQ marriage legalization is an infringement on their right to practice their own religion is really, really fucking amusing. Seriously – go to any ol’ fundie blog and hit the “sanctity of marriage,” “family values,” or “gay” tags and you can practically see the red-faced, ranting jackoff on the other side of the screen, spit flying and fists pounding, talking about how the gay agenda is ruining everything for straight people. Yeah hi. That’s not how oppression works. The liberation of an oppressed class does not equal the oppression of the ruling class. Expanding civil rights to ALL people does not limit the rights of heterosexuals. Or Christians. Or anybody.

If I had the energy or time to thoroughly research, I’d be writing an entry about how the institution of marriage should be completely dismantled for everyone anyway because it’s completely patriarchal and objectifying and capitalistic, and singles, polyamorous people, and anybody that doesn’t conform to an arbitrary and subjective relationship standard are totally fucked, robbed of the special government privileges that come with marriage.  (But I don’t have the energy and I stopped doing research once I graduated from college, so this will have to do.)

So how many privileges are we talking about here, anyway? Glad you asked. Marriage nets a couple 1,138 FEDERAL RIGHTS (pdf) and hundreds of other state rights. Some of these include immigration rights, veterans benefits, tax breaks, inheritance abilities, employment benefits, property rights, social security and housing privileges, hospital visitation, and many, many more.

And this is why “civil unions” are not an acceptable alternative. Civil Unions offer just a teeny, tiny sliver of the privileges that marriages are granted. Sigh. Did we really not fucking learn our lesson the first time?

So as much as I hate the idea of the government rewarding USA-approved relationships with a very lucrative perk package reserved only for those privileged enough to qualify, and would rather just see the whole institution demolished from the bottom up, I realize that’s not likely to happen anytime soon. The next best course of action is to make government-sponsored homophobia a thing of the past and STOP TREATING GLBTQ PEOPLE LIKE SECOND CLASS CITIZENS.

Jesus motherfucking Christ. This is so embarrassing. In 50 years children are going to look up at us and ask “did gay marriage REALLY used to be illegal!? What the fuck was wrong with you guys back then?” Kind of like the way I used to say to my grandparents “um, you seriously made black people use different drinking fountains? Wow. People in the 50s were assholes.”

5 Comments

Filed under Angry Feminist / Political Asshole, Recommended Reading, Religious FUNdaMENTALism!