Who is the bigger threat to marriage?

[WillParkinson]

Someone posted this on a board that I frequent and I really thought it was great.

"How come convicted felons in this society can marry but committed loving same sex couples cannot? How come a dual sex couple can marry 10 mins after meeting at a bar but a commited same sex couple cannot after being together for 6 years? If anyone is going to destroy traditional marriage as an institution, it will be hets." --girlgamer

[JuniperLea]

1. There's only one threat to marriage...

Divorce. When they outlaw divorce, then we can talk.

[JustFiveMoreMinutes]

2. Actually it's women working outside the home and having access to the public

... cause they can go 'shopping' at anytime and are not 'beholden' to a man's salary and support to sustain themselves.

Darn women's rights!

hahhahahahahahahahahahhahahaha

I AM KIDDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[EmeraldCityGrl]

3. Should same sex convicted felons be allowed to marry?

Seems you should be able to make your argument without denigrating another group to do it.

[WillParkinson]

5. Not my argument...

But it is valid just the same. People who have been in prison can marry (even people currently in prison can marry). I've been with my partner 24 years and we just got married in April.

[Creideiki]

6. What a wonderful and valid point!

Thank you so much for coming here to tell us LGBTers that!

[Duncan Grant]

7. Now the gays are denigrating felons! When will this shit end?

Q: Should same sex convicted felons be allowed to marry?
A: Yes.

Are you going to say we're denigrating Britney Spears when we point out her marriage privilege/history?
Project much?

Jeez. :eyes:

[WillParkinson]

8. Perhaps this will help get the point across...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWA3YV7eOvw

On edit: Thank you to the person who sent me the link.

Because, you know, marriage is such a sacred institution.

[EmeraldCityGrl]

9. I'd like to first congratulate you

on your recent marriage and wish you many happy years ahead.

I have worked with convicted felons, many convicted due to archaic drug laws.
They may be allowed to marry, but many if not most are denied the right to vote,
to earn a living or rent a place to live. Although they have paid dearly for their crimes
most continue to pay for the remainder of their lives. Using "convicted felons" as an
example for the civil rights denied the LGBT community strikes me as being below
the standards of reasoning I have come to expect from the community.

I personally don't believe marriage to be the sacred institution it's cracked up to be,
but I certainly would fight for your right to it.

[lightningandsnow]

10. Thank you for posting this.

People forget that the prison industrial complex disproportionally affects queer and trans people.

[RetiredTrotskyite]

15. Sorry, But...Oh wait, I'm NOT Sorry!

If felons can marry and we cannot, there is something very wrong with this picture.

[dgibby]

4. The only threat to heterosexual marriage is heterosexuals. n/t

[lightningandsnow]

11. Nice defense of the prison-industrial complex, there.

I get what you are saying, but advocating taking away even more rights from "convicted felons", even in jest, is directly supporting a system which marginalizes queer and trans people every day. Did you know that a lot of the convicts you are talking about are trans women thrown in (men's) prison for doing sex work to survive? A lot of them are homeless LGBTQ youth. A lot of them are people who dared to defend themselves against homophobic and transphobic violence, like the New Jersey Four.

I'm always saddened but never shocked to see privileged LGBTQ people defending the very systems that oppress us.

[WillParkinson]

12. Advocating taking away more rights?

Please tell me where I did that. First off, I said this was not my opinion, but it makes a valid point. Straight people in prison are allowed to be married, even those who have raped, tortured and killed other people. Gays and lesbians are not allowed. Gays and lesbians in prison are still not allowed to be married.

Nowhere did I say take away the right to marriage for anyone. Nowhere did I defend the prison system. And please be careful using the phrase 'privileged LGTBQ people' without saying exactly what our 'privileges' are.

[lightningandsnow]

13. Well, for one thing...

you keep promoting the idea that everyone convicted of a crime is a rapist or murderer. This is not true. Many of the people in prison are in there for drug crimes, sex work, or petty theft. In fact, the people you are talking about are a tiny proportion of the prison population.

And I stand behind the "privileged" assumption. Are you male? Are you white? Are you financially comfortable? Are you able-bodied? Are you cisgender? Depending on which of these apply to you, you may have male, white, class, able-bodied, and/or cisgender privilege. "Gay" is not the be all and end all. I myself am privileged; even though I am a queer woman with a disability, I have white, class, and cisgender privilege. And something tells me that if you were a working-class person of colour, where people like you are extremely over-represented in the prison system, you wouldn't be tossing the words "convicted felon" around so lightly.

[WillParkinson]

14. Wow...

Talk about taking something the way you want.

I never said that all prisoners were rapists and murderers.

Yes, I'm male. Yes, I'm white. No, I'm not financially comfortable. We both live paycheck to paycheck. No, I'm not able bodied. I have may problems that impact my ability to do my job, which just get worse over time. But, hey, thanks for asking or making assumptions.

Anyway, thank you for your input. It's duly noted, if not overreaching.