In my latest piece in Bilerico Project, I wrote about full equality, not just marriage equality, should be our focus as a community. However, some folks got lost with my statement here:
While gay marriage is cute for a privileged few, it is not a priority to many others.My use of "cute" really bothered some people. They thought I was dismissing gay marriage, but the thing is, I wasn't. My statement "gay marriage is cute for a privileged few," was meant to point out how it's a privilege to not worry about your employment, housing, or benefits and you can only focus on marriage.
And speaking of "a privileged few", that's me. I am that PF. I have a job that allows me to talk freely about my partner, put him on my insurance and to reap my benefits; and he can do the same at his job. They are many out there who don't have these opportunities. I want to make sure that they do. With a full equality plank, all in our community can reap the benefits.
I thought it was clear I was talking about full equality, but these folks just read what they wanted to read.
The interesting pieces to their rants against me proved 2 things:
- They didn't read the full article, they got caught up with the word "cute" and they totally missed the message.
- They proved my point in my post. They are so focused on gay marriage, they can't see anything else.
If they can get past their own foolishness, they will see that I want the same thing they want. Full equality.
2 comments:
I am of a mind that when gay people are allowed to marry anywhere and everywhere in this country, those other discriminatory areas--hospital visits, healthcare choices, inheritance rights, jobs, and housing--will fall by the wayside.
It's not that I don't think those other issues aren't important, it's just that when the big issue is solved--whether gay people want to marry or not--the other things will soon become moot.
I fully support your use of "cute." I wish people were more committed to close reading and actual thought.
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