Opinions

[aishah]

Originally Posted by Quintease

I don't see how denying gays equal rights to straights is helping the equality cause?

Surely we want to make being gay as legally safe and as normalised as possible so gays won't be discriminated against simply for being gay (or trans)?

i don't see how it's helping the equality cause either, lol that's why i said i'd be very happy for gay marriage to be passed. but i'm not under any illusions that that will make everyone equal.

the problem with being "normalized" is that many of us will never be able to conform to the standards of normalization according to mainstream society. some of us might be able to gain a little bit of acceptance and that's really great. but it's conditional and it can be taken away as easily as it can be given.

i'd love to live in a society where people aren't discriminated against for being gay and trans*, but passing gay marriage laws won't make that happen. it will help some lgbtq folks who want to get married, but as long as we live in a society that holds up a certain idea of normalcy and only confers a little bit of acceptance on those who conform to it, we're going to be second class citizens. the history of every minority in this country bears that out.

that doesn't mean we shouldn't seek for policy changes. policy changes can help a lot of people. but people are confusing changing laws with equality, with actually gaining widespread acceptance and ending discrimination, which are not the same thing. no matter how many laws we change, many of us are still going to face discrimination, hatred, abuse, and violence for decades if not longer. because we still live in a society that privileges the "normal" and many of us will never be "normal," no matter how hard we try. and what little bit of protection we ARE able to get can be taken away from us or denied anytime.