The fight for Marriage Equality will be won. Maybe it already has been, essentially. Now there is the wait until it moves around the country, state to state.
While I am happy that it is happening, I don’t know that I want to get married, right away. (Of course, with no partner or even a boyfriend, it will be a wait)! Just because we can (or will be able to) doesn’t mean we should, right away. There is a reason so many straight people are waiting.
Marriage is a legal contract undertaken by, and with, the State. (As a clergyperson, I don’t want to be the officer for anybodies’ weddings, gay or straight. But that’s another matter). It has benefits and responsibilities. It’s really much more than just “I love you.”
The Backlash is coming. People do not fear change so much as they fear loss. And straight white male privilege is crumbling. Many frame it as being “under attack.” And so it is, and needs to be. Retrenchment is taking place. It will be severe.
And, while we may “win” rights to marry, there are so many other “-isms” out there that will tighten up, hunker down, take strangle hold where they can. Sexism. Racism. Patriarchy. Economic privilege. If we want justice, it must be for all. That cause is one we must continue, expand, and embrace.
