From: HawaiiGay1@aol.com Date: Sat, 28 Sep 1996 21:15:47 -0400 Subject: Fwd: NGLTF --"The Marriage Debate" --------------------- From: jwilk@eskimo.com (John Wilkinson) Date: 96-09-28 14:54:37 EDT The Marriage Debate NGLTF Task Force Report Fall, 1996 by John D'Emilio, Director, NGLTF Policy Institute Like the military issue in 1993, marriage has suddenly jumped to the top at our so-called "gay agenda." Despite the range of opinion about the importance or wisdom of fighting for it, the right wing seizure of the issue has pushed it to the center of our radar screen. Yet the marriage issue is filled with meaning and potential that begs for more than a simple "pro" or "con" analysis. The debate over marriage illuminates fissures in the body politic and provides an opportunity to examine some normally unquestioned assumptions about society. The debate, in other words, may be as important as the issue itself. First, some background. As recently as ten years ago marriage elicited barely a murmur of interest among us. Instead, a cluster of "family issues" did begin percolating, and by the early 1990s had heated to boiling. These included domestic partnership registration, workplace organizing for partnership benefits, and a host of policy matters relating to our right to parent. Marriage ran at the back of the pack. Then, in 1993, an unexpected court ruling in Hawaii raised the possibility of same-sex marriage there and, because of the Full Faith and Credit clause of the U.S. Constitution, by extension in all 50 states. Enter the Radical Right. In our 1995 "State of the States" survey of legislation, NGLTF identified family issues as the wedge used by the Right to arouse hatred against us. Marriage is now at the heart of their strategy. Through the "Marriage Protection" rally and resolution in Iowa in February, legislation in 36 states to preemptively strike against developments in Hawaii, and the federal Defense of Marriage Act, the issue has become a right wing crusade. President Clinton's promise to sign the bill might steal the political thunder away from the issue, but it also functioned as a slap in the face to our community and reinforced the divisive rhetoric of "traditional family values." His stance may also make it more likely that this far-reaching piece of homophobic legislation will become law. Under these circumstance, we must respond to the threat at hand. At the same time, we will lose a tremendous political opportunity if we let the Right's line of attack shape how we approach our issues. The fastest way of getting to civil marriage for same-sex couples is not likely to be a straight line. It the issue is relatively new to us, it still seems revolutionary to much of America! Yet our pressing the issue has opened a fascinating debate. Large numbers of journalists, editorial boards, columnists, mainstream elected officials, and ordinary citizens are asking some basic questions. What is marriage actually for? What does it mean to call it the foundation of civilization? What desirable social goals are we trying to foster through marriage, and does same-sex marriage help or hinder that? Rather than make marriage the litmus test of whether someone is our friend or foe, we can instead productively engage in this debate and shape it to our purposes. The debate about marriage is really a debate about how a society fosters caring, commitment, and bonds of support among its members. Let's participate in this broad social discussion about family and community. Coming out as families and pressing the full range of needs that we have as families are more likely to advance our goals than a single-item plank of marriage. Of course we need to expend the energy to expose the right wing's strategy. But let's not allow the intensity of their assault to sweep us along until we, too, come to believe that marriage is our panacea, that marriage is the issue. A "magic bullet" focus on marriage narrows our opportunities and leaves us standing on the political ground defined by our enemies. --- John G. Wilkinson, Media Coordinator The Legal Marriage Alliance of Washington 1202 E. Pike, Suite 1190, Seattle, WA 98122 (206) 689-6280 e-mail: jwilk@eskimo.com HTTP://www.eskimo.com/~demian/lma.html ************************************************** * To post, send email to MARRIAGE@abacus.oxy.edu * **************************************************