Subject: Fwd: NGLTF --"The Marriage Debate"
From: [email-masked]
Date: Sat, 28 Sep 1996 21:15:47 -0400

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From:	[email-masked] (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: [email-masked]
HTTP://www.eskimo.com/~demian/lma.html

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