"Our passion for categorization, life neatly fitted into pegs, has led to an unforeseen, paradoxical distress; confusion, a breakdown of meaning. Those categories which were meant to define and control the world for us have boomeranged us into chaos; in which limbo we whirl, clutching the straws of our definitions."

-James Baldwin, Notes of a Native Son

[Photo courtesy of Wikipedia Commons]

Thinking Critically About Gay Marriage

As the U.S. Supreme Court once again ponders the constitutionality of gay marriage, it is quite clear that more people than ever before are now hopping on the gay marriage train (obviously there is still significant resistance to gay marriage in the U.S., particularly in certain geographic regions, but you'd have to be blind not to notice the gradual mainstreaming of the Gay Marriage Movement as of late).  I think this unprecedented display of support for marriage equality is wonderful to a certain extent (not to mention ridiculously overdue).  It signals wider acceptance of homosexuality and growing recognition that homophobia is in fact HATE and should not be tolerated in this day and age.  This non-trivial social progress deserves to be recognized and appreciated.

Nonetheless, marriage itself--including gay marriage--can be effectively understood as a socially oppressive heteropatriarchal institution that should be critically engaged and questioned rather than passively accepted as some kind of universal ideal.  Let me be clear: I agree 100% that same-sex couples who wish to enjoy and exploit the social and economic advantages of legally recognized marriage should not be denied that right simply because they are same-sex couples.  That seems like a no-brainer to me.  However, I also support critical consciousness and Queer Liberation, and I do not support or tolerate the silencing of critical queer and feminist voices that seek to challenge and critically engage marriage as a social institution.  That being said, I invite readers to check out  a very insightful piece written by Yasmin Nair on how the Gay Marriage Movement functions to reinscribe conservative social values. 

                           Queer Liberation NOW!

"Gay liberation is a radical movement that advocates a radical change in society--its social structures, power structures, its racism and sexual dogmas.  We have a commitment not just to homosexual liberation but to total human liberation."

--Len Richmond & Gary Noguera
   Mill Valley, California 1972

Excerpt from The Gay Liberation Book (1972)