Bear with me here since I heard this on the radio tonight, but an interesting thing was said on a political talk show. The subject was on the recent spat of homosexual marriages. A caller-- writer more accurately since he sent in an e-mail --proposed that the issue of marriage between a same sex couple is not one of connection or love, but is a step in the inclusion of homosexuality as being perceived mainstream. The writer, a self proclaimed homosexual from Toronto, Canada, made the startling statement that the goal is political power, not civil rights or love.
His evidence of this was the breakdown of gay marriages by percentages which, in his eyes, proved that marriage is not something the vast majority of homosexuals are even persuing or find desirable. He threw out some numbers (which I cannot give but in general terms due to me driving and this being a radio program) which divvied up the numbers of married gay couples as such:
Of the tens of thousands of gay couples in Toronto (which I gathered was the Canadian equivilent of San Francisco) only about 1000 marriages had been conducted. This is notable since in Canada homosexual marriages are legal, thus taxation and beneficiary issues are null. Of those 1000 marriage licenses about 600 were issued to Canadians, 350 to Americans, and about 50 went to Europeans.
What this said, he believed, was
1) marriage is not a priority among gays,
2) and marriage is a staid, boring, or "unprogressive" institution which did not reflect the social values of the homosexual community.
This notable in that only a small fraction of eligible gay couples are actually taking part in marriage and, perhaps more importantly, do not see marriage as being a gay custom.
Interesting, yes? Here we are having this discussion in the United States, but the people who ostensibly would benefit from such a legal action do not actually partake in the institution which they supposedly are fighting for. So assuming this is all true-- something which is debatable since the evidence so far is anecdotal --what exactly is the goal of the homosexual community here? Is it marriage? Is it universal acceptance? Is it respectability? Is it tax relief? Or is it just another step in something larger: the wielding of political power by a small vocal minority within a small minority?
Your thoughts?
Totem