As we have been discussing this in my Sex, Gender, and Sexuality class, and I have been having a lot of conversations with my Georgetown professor. I feel as the whole bigger problem in this gay marriage debate is marriage. IMO the institution of marriage shouldn't exist to begin with. In fact:
"According to queer theorists, leaders in politics, religion, and medicine maintain social control by imposing the norm of heterosexual monogamous marriage and condemning those who fail to adhere to it. Rather than preserving families or benefiting children as conservatives claim, marriage privileges are meant to reward and legitimize certain relationships and sexual behaviors while marginalizing and stigmatizing others.
Limiting access to rights such as affordable health care to those who are married, while penalizing and marginalizing those who do not restrict their sexuality in this way (e.g. gays, lesbians, single persons, etc.) is a form of oppressive social control."
Now I do believe since marriage does exist unfortunately then gay couples should have the right to get married, so they can get the same rights as heterosexual couples. However, if marriage is abolished, then it will solve a lot more IMO. The whole Cinderella and Disney dream and all these tv shows like "The Bachelor" are reasons why marriage has become a fantasy and not a reality.
In fact, watch this video with Lance Bass:
The same exact thing is happening to him. The reporter asks about the theme and colors of his wedding. And Lance Bass turned his marriage into a reality tv show which IMO just shows the glamor and not the reality of marriage: gay or straight. There is a reason why the divorce rate is so high in America and worldwide. Although I expect it to be much lower for gay couples because they have been waiting decades to have the same rights as straight couples.
Also note that if a women is 40 and single: she is deemed a "old maid" or "cat lady", yet if a 40 year old single man has a "man cave" then he is considered a bad ass bachelor. These are reasons again why marriage, in itself, can be so problematic. And when gay marriage does become legal, it will not stop homophobia from happening. It may be a gateway in the LGBT community, but there is so much more work that needs to be done.
cocoabean in YOUR opinion marriage is a "special thing" and that's only because how the media has made marriage to seem like a fairy tale, people spend thousands of dollars on weddings, when if marriage didn't exist then it would solve so many issues in itself. And it's not some "gay retarded debate" hun, marriage is troubling in itself :)
Gay marriage should be legal based on the fact that gay couples do not get the same rights as straight couples. The "honeymoon phase" will end sooner or later whether it be 5 months or 5 years. There is a reason SO MANY people get a divorce and gay couples will divorce too you will see
