In June, I was married in a state that honored love. Last night, bigots chose to devalue my marriage and those of millions of other Americans.
I hope someday they realize how shamefully they’ve acted, with their signs that screamed the equivalent of, “Get the Negroes Off Our Women.” In thirty years, when gay marriage is as unquestionable as interracial marriage, and homosexuals permitted in churches where they were once banned as black Americans are, I’m sure the bigots will grab credit for assisting the rights of gay people. They’ll lie, as ministers have lied about barring their doors against black worshippers. Or maybe their factually incorrect memories will feel real to them. But they’ll be lies. And when the next civil rights battle comes, they’ll act wrongly again, having convinced themselves they were on the side of justice last time.
I made my marriage in joy, but it’s only a business contract. A business contract I can only have because I was born with a vagina and my husband with a penis. Because he’s heterosexual and I found a man before I found a woman.
A business contract I can only have because I was born with a vagina and my husband with a penis. Because he’s heterosexual and I found a man before I found a woman.
I think this is the crucial point: there is no such thing as “gay” marriage. Marriage isn’t different based on the genitalia of the spouses. Marriage is the same regardless of whether there’s a penis and a vagina, two penises or two vaginas. Marriage is a legal commitment that comes with a set of rights and responsibilities, that two people can enter for whatever set of reasons (sexual attraction, friendship, the Anna Nicole Smith tradeoff of youth for money), but that has nothing to do with their sex. I do wonder if it would be worthwhile for feminists to make this point more explicitly rather than framing the discussion as being about “love” or “gay rights.” It’s about rejecting the last vestige in the law of sex discrimination.
The San Francisco Chron. on the SFGate website has a list of all contributors pro and con Prop. 8 and details on each contributor. There are a lot of surprises. When you go to the page don’t forget to check “supports” or “opposes”.
http://www.sfgate.com/webdb/prop8/