Written: 04/24/2011
Dan Savage takes down a new paper about “traditional marriage.” It’s excellent:
Marriage is defined by exclusivity—it’s defined by monogamy—but only when gay people want to get married. Straight people don’t have to be married to be monogamous or monogamous to be married.
Marriage is permanent—it’s for life—but only when gay people want to get married. Straight people have been marrying and divorcing and remarrying and redivorcing for centuries.
Marriage is about bearing and rearing children together—not the turn of phrase I would’ve chosen—but only when gay people want to get married. Straight people can be married without rearing children and rear children without being married.
Marriage is—and I’m just going to quote this bit—”renewed by acts that constitute the behavioral part of the process of reproduction.” In other words, straight sex is magic—it makes babies!—and straight sex that doesn’t or can’t make babies (“In the butt, Bob”) is still magic because it “renews” the marital bond, i.e. it reminds you why you married that person in the first place (“She’s really been on my nerves lately, but… man… she gives excellent head”).
Sorry, academic bigots, but your argument is bullshit. Straight people long ago redefined marriage and no rational argument can be made for excluding loving same-sex couples from the institution of marriage as redefined and currently practiced by straight people. Marriage is the legal union of two equal and consenting adults. Period. A marriage can be monogamous or not, it can involve child rearing or not, it can be for life or not, it can have a religious dimension or not, and it can be sexless and/or very infrequently renewed or not.
He’s freaking amazing. I don’t have anything to add.
All my best,
The King of Spades
