13 May, 2005 - 11:48

Eep. This same sex marriage issue is boiling over in my head again...

I have so many major misgivings around same sex legislation and its'
implications on society, especially in Canada. The political din that I
hear in Malawi where being "homosexual" is still criminalised, I
believe, marks a major important turning point. They have only recently
proposed an ammendment in parliament that will strike down that
criminalisation and people are talking about it. Having emerged from
the sexual revolution more aware of people around us, we have somehow
managed to hold on to the set of post-war ideas of what family should
be. Same-sex marriage is an attempt to hang on to this set of
antiquated ideas.

I think when we rally around causes such as same-sex marriage, the
history of the institution is essential. Using my own sexual
identity as a spring board, the set of Christian, dogmatic,
prescriptive, heteronormative, capitalist economy-based, segregationist,
xenophobic ideals that marriage upholds is something I could never
imagine participating in. It is not a human rights issue as major
campaigns in the U.S. and Canada would have us believe, but rather an
issue of a certain segment historically excercising its' perceived
economic right.

Same-sex marriage legislation does not even purport to touch issues
around historical and contemporary struggles for indigenous people,
black people or issues around economic justice. The so-called
"struggle" for gay marriage is trumpeted by those who have access the
economic and political clout necessary to stage a debate: white men and
a minority of white women. The indigenous and black communities have
been rather, understandably, silent. There are deeper issues of concern
for a lot of communities such as life and death, institutional racism,
refugee status and zero representation in government. The selfish cause
of a handful of rather well-off white, gay men who make a choice to
disregard the actual state of the whole of human affairs is underhanded
and shameful.