I'm not your - Critic

I
tried, oh how I tried, to get up on my high horse and write
about the marriage amendment bill that will shortly be coming
before Parliament, which will of course allow gay and lesbian
couples to marry.
But I just couldn’t get passionate about it. Not only is it highly likely
that the bill will pass, it’s blindingly obvious to anyone born this
side of 1945 that a legally mandated institution like marriage needs
to be open to any two people that want to enter into it, regardless
of how their bits fit together.
Personally, I’d prefer if the government got out of the marriage
business entirely, and just provided a basic civil contract that people
could sign, divvying up their property if they decide to split. But
that’s just me.
Generally there are two arguments against gay marriage, and neither of them is very
good. The first says that you are undermining the family unit, and that it is unfair
on any children that would be raised by said couple. Sure, ideally there would be a
man and a woman raising a kid. But hetero marriage has a terrible track record of
providing committed and loving relation-
“I cannot for the life of me understand why
ships as the basis for raising kids. Anyone
with half a brain would say that a loving gay any intelligent person would fight for the
marriage is a better place for a kid than a right to enter into an establishment as
divorced and acrimonious hetero one.
fucked up as marriage.”
The second, slightly stronger argument is that religious establishments, churches
for example, shouldn’t be forced to marry people that do not share their religious
views. And if a religion forbids homosexuality, then fine, of course they shouldn’t
be forced to marry a homosexual couple. However, it is the government who makes
the rules about marriage, not churches. Legally gays should be allowed to marry.
Churches should make their own internal decisions. No, you won’t have the right to
marry in that beautiful church that you love if the parish that the church belongs to
doesn’t agree with gay marriage, but it’s their church, tough shit.
Honestly, it surprised me how excited people got when the news came out (see what
I did there) that a gay marriage bill would be put before Parliament. I cannot for the
life of me understand why any intelligent person would fight for the right to enter
into an establishment as fucked up as marriage. I get the desire to have exactly the
same rights as everyone else, but still, it is honestly beyond me. But it sure as hell
isn’t up to breeders like me to decide what rights queers should have. You tell me
what you want, and I’m more than happy to help you get it.
Hey, look at that. Wrote the whole thing about gay marriage after all.
- Joe Stockman
critic.co.nz
GAAAY
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