(It'll be ages before it becomes law, it still has to go through lots of stages and is likely to get held up by the House of Lords, but I don't see any way that this isn't going to go through now in the end. This was the key vote.)
I should say that I'm in the peculiar position, personally, of having grave reservations about the institution of marriage generally while being hugely, hugely for equal marriage.
In my opinion, this is an Immense deal. The landscape of LGBT rights and freedom has changed dramatically in the last 10, 15, 20 years. As recently as 2005, my local newspaper was refusing to put the Lesbian Women's Walking Group in the events listings, because "we are a family newspaper" - and that change was forced by a change in the law so that it was illegal for them to refuse. I am very, very aware that queer folk need very much more than a right to marry, but I'm thinking more broadly here. I'm thinking that "her wife" and "his husband" becoming more commonplace and unremarkable parts of life in Britain will really, really help with the casual, unspoken kinds of homophobia, will help to embed it in people's minds that queer families exist and are as little threat as any other kind of family.
In Britain, a lot of damage is done just by not talking about things. Queerness was generally not talked about when I was entering my teens, and that was harmful. With this equal marriage stuff, queerness is out there for discussion, it's present, it's acknowledged. True bigots will never change their minds, but people who've just never really thought about it are now being reached and realising that queerness is maybe not a worrying thing, hearing from queer people in their own words for perhaps the first time. I recognise that queer folk entering their teens now still face a myriad of issues, and everything is very far from rosy and perfect just because of equal marriage; but I truly believe that this will help, and that this is a landmark.
As a very marriage-sceptical person, I am celebrating.
(NB: In Scotland, equal marriage is an issue for the devolved Scottish government. Scotland made clear its intention to legalise equal marriage before England did, and it appears to be more strongly supported in Scotland. It just hasn't been done in the parliament yet, which is possibly to do with UK equality laws needing tweaking, which is a job for the Westminster (London, eg also England&Wales) parliament. There is no current prospect of equal marriage in Northern Ireland.)
-------------------- The kyriarchy usually assumes that I am the kind of woman of whom it would approve. I have a peculiar kind of fun showing it just how much I am not. Posts: 719 | From: Europe | Registered: Sep 2011
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posted
Redskies: I think you know that I'm in a similar spot to you with this. I have political issues with marriage as an institution -- particularly as a legal one -- period.
But it's one of those things where, even though I have no desire or plans to engage in it myself, if it's a right one group of people has, I want it to be one everyone has. Personally, I also feel like making it about more than just heterosexual people, or one man/one woman, also is going to help with the problematic political aspects of the whole thing. And I agree with you with all the other positives you've mentioned here.
This is fantastic news.
-------------------- Heather Corinna, Executive Director & Founder, Scarleteen About Me • Get our book! Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. - Margaret Mead Posts: 63243 | From: An island near Seattle | Registered: May 2000
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This also directly impacts trans people who transition while in a legal partnership, because currently, a trans person must legally dissolve the marriage/civil partnership in order to legally change their gender, and then begin a new legal partnership. Talk about the state dictating people's relationships.
It's a big deal for people with other issues in play, for example, immigration or mixed-nationality partnership issues, people who need to protect their relationship through it being less socially sanctioned in some way (eg poly or open), people who need/want to have their romantic partner legally recognised universally as their closest family, and probably some other situations I'm forgetting. I have to admit that a mixture of those apply directly to me personally, so you can bet that as much as I have issues with marriage, I want the right to it, and even a year ago, it still seemed like a distant dream.
I am astonished at how much the social landscape on this has changed in the last 15 years: it would've been completely unthinkable then. The shift that this represents makes me cry-happy.
-------------------- The kyriarchy usually assumes that I am the kind of woman of whom it would approve. I have a peculiar kind of fun showing it just how much I am not. Posts: 719 | From: Europe | Registered: Sep 2011
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