A LOVE THAT DOES SPEAK ITS NAME

As another year begins we dust off our hopes and dreams and sprinkle them with just enough faith to get us through the rest of it. Some great achievements were realized last year amongst our crew, individually and collectively, and now we are one more step closer to equality. Civil unions for our community in Queensland are now a reality and though it is one step toward a goal, it will only be a matter of time before we are granted the right to legally marry the ones we love in all areas of this country. It is a tide that will not turn in the favour of those that wish us to stay behind the pack, begging for the crumbs of a marriage loaf that most have taken for granted for years. One only need exchange the gay community for another minority into the debate about marriage rights, whether it creed or colour of skin, and the bigger picture emerges. It then becomes clear that no other minority would be expected to accept anything less than equal rights and to deny anyone these rights is discrimination in black and white.

When will those in power stop fooling each other that this is not the case and start to face the facts. Just because it is not your personal preference does not mean you have the right to disempower a minority and dictate the terms of their partnerships. Equality is about treating all humans with dignity and respect, providing equal rights for all regardless of sexuality or gender and not about mans ongoing what’s next obsessional fear of burning in hell. Believe what you want to believe and find happiness in what you will, but do not disguise oppression of another in sanctimonious religious beliefs that benefit some, but if sanctioned too heavily ultimately denigrate and legally oppress others.

The sky will not fall if the gay community are granted the right to marry as has been proven in other places in the world. They came to their senses and realized the stupidity and stubbornness of outdated beliefs under pinning laws that hinder the happiness of others, and so too will those holding the keys in this country. The day is coming when it will be impossible to continue with the lie that some are more worthy than others to celebrate and legally bind their love, and the walls will continue to crumble brick by brick until we reach equality.

Apart from everything else, the financial windfall for those counting the coin that is generated from uniting a couple would be incredible and the wedding gift registers alone would surely leave them spinning. They only need consider just how extravagantly some in our community celebrate a big day, and you will witness the whole wedding industry on mass heading to Canberra to heavily lobby the change. A change that will bring equality for those with a love that does speak its name, who loudly demands the right to register it.


Copyright © Robyn Whittaker. 2011.

SPITTING RIGHTEOUS VENOM

Gay marriage is a contentious issue for many "religious" members of our wider human community. With God on their side, the Righteous Crusades continue. Many American church leaders, for example, are actively opposing and trying to overturn judicial rulings and legislative activity that has extended marriage rights to everyone, gay or straight. For example, the highest court in the state of Iowa just, over a year ago, ruled that equal rights are just that, and that they extend marriage rights to all. As fundamental rights are extended incrementally, and from place to place, to a traditionally marginalized minority, some pious folks' bile is being hatefully displayed, a distinct difference from the love and humility that one might expect based on the teachings of their various sacred texts.
Marriage has traditionally been a preserve of the straight. Religious leaders and secular lawmakers have arrogantly held the moral and legal keys to this domain. In much of the world, unfortunately, they still do and nothing has changed in this regard. Pandering politicians and dogmatic piety stand, locked arm in arm, in fear of change, in fear of the pink nuptial.
State-recognized gay marriage is a contentious issue for many devout persons because they confuse state "sanction" with religious "sanctity." According to many of their various "sacred" rulebooks, male and female unions are the only couplings their God approves of, and therefore secular authorities need to adhere to those rules, too. And that's just the way it's always been. However, in modern, progressive societies, we don't legislate, or give state sanction, based on these sacred texts. In tolerant and open countries, we can't. Whose book would we choose? Whose interpretation? Instead, we distinguish between the secular and the sacred, and try to avoid the one encroaching on the other. Proponents of gay marriage are not demanding the right to be married in your church. Instead, we are demanding the right that your church not interfere with our rights to marry in our government courthouses, our public parks, our homes and gardens, and yes, even in those churches that do open their aisles to all God's children.
Where human progress and change confronts the comfort zone of long-established beliefs, you will find conflict as some try to romanticize the past, mythologize the status quo, and marginalize any calls for change. But, equality is about treating all humans with dignity and respect, providing equal rights for all regardless of sexuality or gender. It is not about mankind's ongoing "what's next" fear. As for your spirituality, believe what you want to believe and find happiness in what you will, but do not denigrate and oppress others as we all seek to live our best lives in our short time in this world.

Copyright (c) Robyn Whittaker. 2010