Is Marriage Equality the New AIDS? This is a multi-part blog post, so check back everyday to see each entry. The question may seem startling, but if you consider my points, I think it will make sense.

AIDS was (and still is) a complex conglomaration of all sorts of things- some real, some perceived, some invented or constructed. It was at the core, about a virus spread through blood to blood contact that infected males and females around the globe, with no regard or preference to anything.  It was (and truly still is) an equal opportunity disease.  But it was so much more than this real fact. It became a rallying cry within the GLBT community, a purpose around which to organize and fight for our rights, as we were fighting for our very lives. It became a defining factor; a way in which community was understood.  It was both a way that “we” defined ourselves as different from mainstream culture, and also a way in which we aligned ourselves with the larger straight community.  Everyone mourned the loss of so many- no matter if you were straight or gay- we lost fathers and sons, mothers and daughters. It was a way by which those who wish to oppress diversity demonized and stigmatized.  And it prompted the whole of the world to come to terms with at least a part of what globalism means. Both what it was and what it meant was many, many, things. And all of this stuff- all of the ways it was used, overshadowed the real underlying core issue of a virus spread by blood to blood contact, and together, was what we mean when we say AIDS.

So, what is marriage equality? What is at the the core, and what are those things which are real, perceived, and constructed that surround it? My series of blog posts won’t be exhaustive answers to these questions, but I hope will prompt discussion around them.  I’m guessing there are far more questions to be asked as well. Stay tuned or begin adding your ideas now by posting a comment.

Part 1: Is marriage equality is infecting the GLBTQ communities?

Part 2: Marriage Equality as a rallying cry within the GLBTQ communities.

Part 3: Is Culture marginalizing GLBTQ people with marriage equality?

 

Photo credit: Steve Rhodes