Who Cares about Gay Marriage?

Yeah, I said it. And yes, I meant it.

Ok, sure everyone should be allowed to tie the knot if they so desire. And yes, I suppose everyone deserves the tax and medical benefits that go along with being married.

But is this really how the powerful gays are choosing to organize? Is this really the most important issue that our community faces?

I think not.

Powerful gays are not wanting to face the real issues.

What this does show me is how out of touch and socioeconomically segregated the gay community really is.

It figures that, suddenly, a bunch of hetero liberals in California are concerned with the 'rights' of the gays. 'Oh hey, I'm planning my big white wedding, and it's totally not fair that my favorite gay from college can't get married too!'

Yeah, it really sucks.

But you know what else sucks:

1) The HIV rate. According to the Center for Disease Control and Protection, we are entering a 'second-wave' AIDS epidemic where the AIDS rate is up 12%, the steepest rise being seen amongst black males aged 13-24.

2) The lack of mental health services and sex education for LGBTQ youth in most urban, suburban, and rural areas (There is no true health class to inform students about risky sexual behaviors at the high school where I teach in Baltimore City, and incidentally Baltimore-Towson has the 2nd highest AIDS rate of any major metro region as of 2006).

3) All pervasive homophobia in most areas of American life, except where money can be made such as marrying gays, and television shows depicting women having sex with other women.

But let's face it, marriage is a comfortable warm and fuzzy that unites all Americans in an ever-ending quest for the American Dream. Our televisions are saturated with images about marriage, so it's not a terrible surprise that powerful gays would rally around an issue that most Americans are inherently concerned with.

Let's also face the reality that the gay community is deeply segregated and the issues facing the 'gay community' almost always seem to be issues facing powerful, rich, and often white gays.

Gays, what messages are we promoting? Equality, social justice, and democracy?

I think not.