Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Gay Weddings

I was watching an African American gay comedian last night on Logo (a gay and lesbian T.V. network) and –though it was a joke- he made a statement that was pretty interesting, “why do homosexuals keep inviting me to their weddings, I can’t get married so why would I want to attend theirs?…If it was 1950 I wouldn’t want to go watch them vote!” I thought about that statement for a while and asked myself if there was any logic behind it. Would attending and supporting heterosexual marriage somehow support the discrimination we –homosexuals- are shown? I mean, like he said, we wouldn’t go with white people to vote when African American’s were denied that right.

Going along with the theme of this blog, I guess I would say that we should attend the weddings in support of our loved ones on a very special day in their lives. Many of my friends would probably say that I’m ridiculous for even stating such a thing but again it is worth mentioning. I am not at all in support of discrimination so I can’t help but feel kind of hypocritical going along with heterosexual marriage; after all would you eat at a diner if African Americans were the only race allowed to eat outside of their homes?

I do fell sad when I see heterosexual couples getting married but I believe my heart would be even more sore if I thought I hurt a loved one by not attending their ceremony. As stated, he made a very interesting statement and one that I have give much thought. I take my hat off to those heterosexual couples who stand and say that they would never get married until everyone is allowed that right and I know that all heterosexual couples aren’t that strong or don’t feel that strongly about the subject. So in conclusion, will I attend a heterosexual wedding? Probably…


Seek Peace Friends!

2 comments:

Karen said...

I think it's hard when other people can be hurt by one's work for social change.

For example, I was talking with a guy about how a lot of teen violence and teasing happens as a result of some people wearing the most "in" clothes and others being jealous or picked on if they don't have the "in" clothes.

The problem came up when I suggested that he was just feeding the problem by going out and buying his kids the "in" clothes. This just continues the current problematic trend.

From his point of view, though, he would rather have his kids be accepted than picked on for their clothes. Who wants to martyr his own child for social justice?

I think that it is the same thing with the weddings. You can take a stand for gay rights and not go to straight weddings. However, that means martyring your friends (insofar as they care if you are there or not) by not showing up to their wedding and supporting them on such an important day.

What's the answer? I don't know.

On the other hand, if

Anonymous said...

Well said.