Threatened: The American Taliban – Iowa and Vermont Approve Gay Marriage

The sky is falling! The sky is falling! What are opponents of gay marriage going to do when civilization fails to collapse?

Two U.S. states with different socio-economic, political and geographical realities came through for same-sex marriage this past week.

Vermont becomes the fourth state after Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Iowa to recognize same-sex marriage in the United States. We eagerly await the ruling in California, which should come no later than May.

Anti-gay marriage activists (the ones that spend all their time reading up and chatting about gay news) are spurring into action, snarling about judicial activism and the downfall of democracy, as well as civilization.

The atheist judges of Britain had destroyed Christianity in Britain, they allowed Sikh people to wear turban instead of helmet but prohibited schools from celebrating Christmas stating that it is offending non Christians.

Another moron:

It’s time for righteous indignation! We have a voice that needs to be heard, but in order to be heard we must use our mouth. This country was based on Christianity and MORALITY in our pulpits!

…

Does that even merit a response? It offends the sensibility of this blog and tells us not to bother arguing with such people since they have obviously lost control of their mental faculties.

Needless to say, I am thrilled. However, I would like to also take a moment to say that gay politics do not and should not stop at ‘gay marriage.’

Read: What Constitutes Gay Immigration Politics – Notes from a Queer Undocumented Organizer (Change.org)

Gay rights do not take place in a vacuum—they are intricately linked with immigration rights, welfare reform, healthcare, to name a few. Citizenship and marriage are both ‘exclusive and privileged’ and reified, reproduced, and legitimated by the constant battles for ‘same-sex marriage’ or immigration equality, hence it is in the interest of the state to keep some people in the waiting rooms of history as ‘out-casts.’

[…]

As it stands, heterosexuality is a pre-requisite for citizenship—unspoken, presumed and a normative category. Given the experiences of a second-class queer citizenship, what should constitute gay immigration politics is an inclusive effort to recognize citizenship as a violent construct that must not be denied to those who seek it. The concept of citizen has historically evolved violently from property-owning white males to include white women, freed slaves, immigrants of various nationalities, and people from colonized islands. To oppose expanding citizenship to undocumented immigrants is not only socially regressive but ignores the fact that citizenship has never been an immutable concept.

I have always stood against the mainstreaming and heterosexualizing of ‘gay culture.’ But ‘gay culture’ is not a constant–it is intersubjective and inter-twined with the material conditions of its existence. At the same time, people must be afforded their equal rights and privileges.

Four down, 46 to go.