i delivered my paper friday morning, it got mixed reviews i think critiquing same-sex marriage in the states is incredibly politically charged in ways that it isn't in canada (at least not any more).
let me elaborate:
i'm not against same-sex marriage, or at least not as much as my audience seemed to think so. i understand why queers get married: citizenship rights, tax breaks, and a relationship that can be "understood" by the mainstream (because it copies dominant ideologies that surround family structures).
i get mad when people compare the same-sex marriage movement to the issues faced by first nations people, or people of colour. when a (largely) white middle class group of citizens thinks they are being oppressed in the same way.
don't get me wrong, i think homophobia remains a systemic issue and there are a lot of fucked up problems that queers face but don't compare it to the racism faced by other minorities especially when you are implicated in these issues. why aren't we (and i'm including myself in this) more concerned with at-risk queer youth? hiv/aids issues in the community? the growing problems with crystal meth? the government's biased age of consent laws? right, because we're too busy looking at martha stewart wedding magazines.
le sigh.
Comments (2)
My one serious comment on your blog, please bear with me and don't hold it against me: I am not sure if your wording here is correct. Why shouldn't we compare homophobia with racism - is it not a type of racism? While I agree that individuals who do compare same sex marriage issues to ideas of racism is wrong, it strikes me that there are a lot of more blatant and serious issues surrounding homophobia. Having a young man beaten to death because he was seen holding hands with another man is a form of racism. Laws against legalizing same sex marriage, while not as serious as the overly disgusting laws against Natives that still limit many of them to reserve land in Canada, or with hold their right to land that was once theirs before settlement is certainly not the same thing.
But I can't help but feel that to suggest that homophobia - unless you mark out exactly what kind of homophobia it is you are making reference to here - is not akin to racism is rather limiting.
Forgive my comment here - I am in a head space right now where I cannot help but think about homophobia and anti-gay violence. This is especially akin to the Religious right and their desire to continue to view us as the "dirty other. It is the very language of homophobia and hate that makes this similar to racism.
I agree with you on almost everything you say about same-sex marriage, but the little activist in me is giving you that Matt look.
Posted by Matt | November 3, 2007 9:22 PM
Posted on November 3, 2007 21:22
There's a column in the new edition of Capital Xtra saying something very similar, but I can't find it online. I'll try and pick up a paper copy while I'm here.
Posted by Carly | November 4, 2007 6:17 PM
Posted on November 4, 2007 18:17