A group of left-wing extremists have joined together to write a manafesto and set up a web site called beyondmarriage.org. As I understand their views after visiting their website, they want to extend marriage rights and legal recognitions far beyond same sex couples. Among the various and sundry relationships they want recognized are "households in which there is more than one conjugal partner."
Oh crap. This DOES NOT HELP LGBT people who want to have their committed relationships recognized as a legal marriage. It does not help at all because this is foddder for opponents to use in scaring their sheep to fall in line opposing equality. There is an excellent essay about the damage this will inflict on the GLBT community on the Independent Gay Forum.
The American Family Association has already seized upon this extremist rhetoric, portraying it as "Pro-Homosexual Marriage Proponents Go Public With Their Agenda." Of course, the clear implication is that all marriage equality advocates subscribe to these extreme views.
The AFA continues "In short, they want to totally redefine our society by eliminating the very concepts of marriage and family, and the battle to redefine traditional marriage is just the beginning. The proponents of homosexual "marriage" admit it and they have posted their manifesto online."
I suspect what the people at beyondmarriage.org will ultimately accomplish is helping to keep same-sex marriage beyond the reach of loving, committed same-sex couples. They are providing organizations like the AFA with effective ammunition for their campaign to discredit proponents of equality and scare people who won't put forth the effort to investigate the issue on its own merits.
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Unfortunately, there are extremists on both sides of the so-called "culture wars"--groups such as this, but there are also many groups that not only wish to deny gays the right to marry, but would rather have us "converted."
ReplyDeleteThe best way to advance the cause of civil rights is to follow in the footsteps of leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr. He understood that educating people about the issue and presenting an intelligent and inspirational case for civil rights was the best way to further his cause.
Even though there are extremes, centrist and moderate ideas typically are the ones that are sucessful.
To me, this BeyondMarriage coalition smacks of elitism . . . a bunch of so-called "Gay leaders" (althought I suspect they'd prefer to be called "queer leaders") deciding what's best for the rank and file without even asking their opinion. Ordinary folks are not going to understand this complicated socio-political agenda they're putting forth. What they do understand is the intrinsic right of two people who love each other to declare their relationship before God and have it legally recognized. That's what Gay couples all over the world are fighting for, and it makes perfect sense: If our fight is about the right to love, then marriage is necessarily going to be a part of that fight. However, some people on the Left are just as hostile to the concept of same-gender marriage as people on the Right. They oppose it for different reasons, but their arguments all lead to the same place: Inequality for Lesbians and Gay men. BeyondMarriage is just like the Religious Right in that they want to control the options Lesbians and Gay men have or do not have available to them. It's not about love or equality, it's about ideology! Really, their would-be utopian plans to redefine marriage haven't a snowball's chance in Hell of coming to fruition . . . and I think some of them know it, too! I am really disappointed that people I respect like Cornel West and Gloria Steinem would put their names to this silly manifesto. If I'm not mistaken, both of them have benefited from marriage in its present state. Why should it need to change into something radically different before I'm able to access it?
ReplyDeletehttp://christthegaymartyr.blogspot.com
Polygamy is a sticky subject. Gay rights organizations involved with same-sex marriage lawsuits are always careful to point out -- because judges ALWAYS ask -- that we are not suing for polygamy, and that polygamy is a separate issue which the courts can and should rule on at a later time, independently of any considerations of whether civil marriage should have gender restrictions.
ReplyDeleteIt IS a separate issue, but the problem is that legally what prevents it are the same questions. Marriage is a fundamental right which can be infringed if the government can show a compelling reason for doing so (i.e., minimum age requirements to protect minors, blood relatives for public health concerns, etc.), as well as a rational basis for demonstrating that the restriction furthers the government interest.
Polygamy of course would be immensely complex, legally speaking. What happens if one partner dies, and there are multiple spouses with conflicting views on how the body should be disposed of? Or, let's say one man is married to four women, and one of the women wants to divorce to of the other women but stay married to the man and another woman. Makes your head spin. The potential complications go on and on. But the question the courts will have to answer is whether these complexities constitute a rational basis for the government to deny access to civil marriage to multiple partners.
The important thing for people to remember with same-sex marriage is that NONE of those concerns arise; civil marriage will remain exactly the same, except the gender restriction is removed. No other laws regarding adoption, inheritance, intestacy, the right to sue for wrongful death, social security benefits, etc., etc., etc. change in the slightest.