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Monday 26 October 2009

Same-sex marriage – a debate

Is marriage a patriarchal, heterosexist institution? And are civil partnerships a second-class legal status?

Let battle commence, because these questions are being asked tonight at a debate in London. More questions on the agenda are:

Does the demand for same-sex marriage embody a conformist, assimilationist agenda?

Should both civil marriage and civil partnerships be open equally to gay and straight couples?

How would you feel if the government banned black people from marriage and offered them civil partnerships instead?

Are civil partnerships a form of sexual apartheid?

It’s being sponsored by the Greater London Association of Trade Union Councils and is being held at 7 p.m. at Conway Hall in Red Lion Square (the nearest Tube station of Holborn), and it’s free to get in.

The gay human-rights campaigner Peter Tatchell will be on the stage debating Maire Dailey. Sorry, but I’m not sure who Maire Daley is. No doubt someone will put me right.

While it’s only fair that, given that there’s official marriage for heterosexuals, there should be the same for gays if they really want to submit themselves to it, it’s open to debate as to whether gays really ought to wish to ape the hetties and thereby merge into a society that makes us all convenient pawns for governments and big business to tag and move around the global chessboard.

I, for one, would not opt for either a CP or marriage, but you may disagree.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

After 26 years together, me and Terry are getting "civil partnered" this Tuesday at the local registry office. It's more about securing pension and inheritance rights than anything else.

I have to say, this sounds like a very silly debate.

Pete

Andy Armitage said...

Congratulations, Pete, from the team at Pink Triangle.