The queer argument against marriage
Noble's point is also that, while important, gay marriage is by no means the end of the struggle. "My concerns are that there is a perception amongst gay activists, or at least the ones who make the news clips, that somehow 'we' are now liberated. It's just not true, and marriage is hardly the end of an oppressive sexual system which is violently policed," she says. "If anyone's going to be married, then everyone should. I fully support inclusion of same-sex spouses. That said, I am tremendously concerned that the gay-marriage issue has become a kind of flagship issue, one which is perceived to mark the liberation of all gay peoples from oppression.:
Unfortunately, it's unlikely that this emphasis will shift in the coming months as the debate over gay marriage is raised once again as an election issue in both Canada and the U.S. It may be that the only way to expand the debate at this point is to put grassroots pressure on groups like Egale to pursue not only equal civil rights, but to challenge an entire system that excludes both queer communities and heterosexuals like single mothers who do not fit into the idealized definition of "family."
Susan Thompson/rabble news Feb.13.04
