(Untitled)

[fattest]

What do folks think about this article in the Huffington Post by Bob Osterberg: "Why Gay Marriage is the Wrong Issue?"

I think in many respects he's right, but his pompous and condescending tone really bugs me.

Comments

[pantryslut]

ditto your impression.

He also just doesn't seem to get the symbolic power of marriage. it's something that eluded me for a long time, too, right up until I saw all those marriages at SF City Hall, and it all clicked. It's an *emotionally* important issue to a lot of folks, and that needs to be acknowledged.

He seems to have the idea that, outside of the rights granted by such a union, marriage is only and merely a religious issue. I think it's more complicated than that.

I guess, in the end, I no longer thing that gay marriage is the wrong issue, just that it shouldn't be the primary (or only!) issue.

[hhholiday]

as lori says, it is important to grok the emotional resonance that this issue carries with it. he misses that entirely.

his tone in the beginning paragraphs was really snarky (and thus off-putting and unpersuasive), but all his major points are otherwise quite in sync with my thinking. i too fear the loss of the cultural and relational diversity which has grown within queer culture; i feel the shift in elevating 'marital status' and i do not like it one bit.

and, hell yes there are more important national, international and global issues!

[papachris]

". It's an *emotionally* important issue to a lot of folks, and that needs to be acknowledged

[serazin]

I like everything except the basic thesis which seems to be that a) we should all be rallying around our fearless leader like everyone else and b) homophobia is our own darned fault.

Otherwise I was glad for the reminder not to get sucked too far into the marriage discussion unless a substantial movement emerges to divorce all marriage from state interests.

[hhholiday]

as lori says, it is important to grok the emotional resonance that this issue carries with it. he misses that entirely.

his tone in the beginning paragraphs was really snarky (and thus off-putting and unpersuasive), but all his major points are otherwise quite in sync with my thinking. i too fear the loss of the cultural and relational diversity which has grown within queer culture; i feel the shift in elevating 'marital status' and i do not like it one bit.

and, hell yes there are more important national, international and global issues!

[plaid_is_best]

I like what E told us about the proposition to outlaw divorce that is happening in California. I am also encouraged about the many younger folks I read about, who are emerging to lead the gay revolt.
Taking rights away from people is wrong. It will be corrected, leagally. The emotional response of the religious community is what tipped scales. Also, Obama has said that he is against gay marriage, but for gay rights, so he walks a fine line.

[clever_doberman]

I liked the article, and then I was able to hopscotch to two more articles about Rick Warren that allowed me to see more sides of him, including Melissa Etheridge's piece.

I loved it when Gavin Newsome moved forward to legalize gay marriage at a time when it could have (and maybe has, for a while) created more of a backlash, but he did it because it came from his own passion about the issue.

Marriage and the Military - sheesh, these are the two arenas we have tried to gain access to? I'll pass on one or both.

and we were arrogant in thinking that Proposition 8 would not pass, and we didn't do our homework well enough, which is why I think that we have to go back to the drawing boards and build a better strategy, one that includes coalitions of potentially odd bedfellows.

so to speak.