The text this week shares many interesting articles on heterosexism. I found Anna Quinlan’s article on same sex marriage particularly interesting and the way she relates the controversy over gay marriage to the well-known 1967 cross-racial marriage case of Loving v. Virginia. Today we are shocked to think that only 44 years ago, a husband and wife (him White and her Black) were awoken in the middle of the night to be charged with bigotry! What?! This is crazy, right?! Yes, it is. While it sometimes seems that in matters such as these, it is “two steps forward and one step back,” we must remember, as the text states, “the world only spins forward.”
Fast forward to 2011, and you will find that gay marriage is the focus of such bigotry today. What drives this resistance to two people (who just happen to be the same sex) who are in love with each other having the ability to a legal union, just like “everyone else?” Is it a God thing? I do not believe so. The God I believe in loves unconditionally. There is nothing “unconditional” about this subject. In fact, it is chock full of conditions. However, all of this being said, “the world only spins forward,” and since the article our text was written (November, 2008), four states have been added to the list of states recognizing gay marriage, which brings the total to six. Victory is inevitable.
As a heterosexual married female, with several gay and lesbian friends, I feel a responsibility to be aware and acknowledge my privilege as it relates to marriage. To be not only sensitive to the inequities they experience, but to resist my own privilege. To challenge the idea that marriage is a heterosexual entitlement.
I can’t help but believe that someday this issue of fighting gay marriage, will be as crazy to us as the events around the Loving case seem today because…
“The world only spins forward.”
Here’s a couple of links that I found interesting:
The Gay Marriage Research Center website: http://www.gaymarriageresearch.com/topics/
Does Conan O’Brien’s same-sex wedding ‘push the envelope’ in Seattle? http://blog.seattlepi.com/thebigblog/2011/11/04/does-conan-obriens-same-sex-wedding-push-the-envelope-in-seattle/
Unfortunately people use religious reasons to cover up the fact that they are uncomfortable with differences. In the case of this nation, Christians declare God’s opinion in protests and place judgments on people. However, in doing so they are bringing judgment upon themselves. For example, an irony that I’ve noted in this issue is that in the uproar about gay marriages disrupting the institute of marriage, the divorce rate is highest amongst Christians. Where there is judgment there is not freedom but only the pointing of fingers back and forth. Christians can have different opinions, but it’s not ok to judge from the distant territory of protests or even pulpits. I always want to ask people if they even know anybody or listened to the stories of anybody who is gay, lesbian, or transgender/transsexual.
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