Contexts symposium: after marriage equality

pat gleich

What a wonderful and timely addition to this important topic. I am looking forward to reading these commentaries and having this content to use as a teaching resource. As I perused this page, the question that jumped to the forefront is 'why are we calling this marriage equality'? I know the HRC and other groups have been promoting the notion of 'marriage equality', but what we have achieved stops short of that goal. We have - more or less - legal marriage for same-sex couples throughout the U.S., yes, but we have not yet reached marriage equality. As a lesbian who was married several years ago in New York to my long-time partner, but residing in a state that only very recently was forced to legalize and recognize same-sex marriage, my marriage is not yet viewed as 'equal' to that of my opposite-sex coupled colleagues and neighbors. Our state, like many others, does not protect any portion of the LGBT community as a class, so yes, my marriage is legal, but, my spouse and I do not have the same social benefits and supports or protections of those who fit the demographics of traditional marriage.
As I read headlines about clerks resigning or closing offices rather than fulfil their sworn duty to process marriage licenses for same-sex couples, or learn of the delaying strategies some states are employing to hurt and embarrass same-sex couples who wish only to exercise their legal right to marry, I do not feel very equal. And, as I wait for the anger and powerful backlash from portions of society who are rising to attempt to undue the societal change they feel was forced upon them, I do not feel very equal. I have heard my own same-sex coupled friends saying, maybe we moved too fast – maybe we should wait for attitudes to catch up before we ‘push’ this any further.
Legal marriage is not marriage equality. I appreciate the great victory that is legal marriage, While marriage equality may be on the far horizon, that horizon remains in the far, far distance.

etseq

These commentaries are ostensibly written by "prominent researchers on the politics, demography, history, identity, law, and culture" so I was a bit surprised to see a contribution by Stephen Thrasher. Although he thinks very highly of himself as a crusading investigative journalist, a more accurate description would be that of a shrill self-appointed critic of both the goals, strategies and personalities of mainstream gay activism. Of course, there is nothing inherently wrong with valid and constructive criticism within minority social movements and the prodding of radicals is often necessary in such movements. The problem with Thrasher is that he seems more invested in stylistic shock value that fails to deliver on much substantive analysis. Indeed. his polemics seem invested in an almost reactionary nostalgia for an idealized sexual utopia that supposedly flourished in that narrow window post-stonewall but pre-aids. He bitterly attacks anyone that fails to adhere to a set of sexual norms that reject monogamy and privileges frequent casual sex divorced from any emotional relationships as a form of false consciousness masking internalized homophobia. Ironically, he commits the very sin that he attributes to the rest of us - universalizing his personal preference as normative. He was infamous for his rants in the Village Voice and the occasional screed in Gawker chastising gays for failing to adhere to his political ideology - whether it be anti-war, anti-capitalism, etc. I'm not sure why the editor of this journal selected a fairly obscure polemicist with no academic credentials when all the other contributors seem to be legitimate academics.

Philip Cohen

Steven's contribution speaks for itself. Not all credentials are academic, and not all researchers have PhDs.

Carol Adams

Actually, in a given event, women are more likely to orgasm with a woman than with a man (though this blog post doesn't show that). The finding you refer to doesn't necessarily men that bisexual women have orgasms more often with men than women--because there are a significant number of women calling themselves bisexual who haven't done anything with women. kissmanga list

Arvind

If you add some latest ringtone then you will be firstly know the
windows mobile ringtone settings it will be different from the other android system it will be so advanced to learn this new features.