Beyond Marriage: The Inherent Radicalism Behind Same Sex Marriage

[Gabriel_Gale]

A common argument against same sex marriage is that SSM will lead to polygamy and other more odious forms of marriage. Proponents of same sex marriage (other than libertarians) usually portray such arguments as insulting and bigoted. Typically, proponents of SSM seem blind to the fact that the premises supporting SSM (freedom to marry, equality, anti-religious bias) destroy the foundations of civil marriage as we now know marriage and invite other forms of marriage which most Westerners are against.

Some proponents in this forum have recognized this weakness in the argument for same sex marriage and suggest that while the door may be open to polygamy and polyamory, the legalization of such arrangements is unlikely because there is no constituency. Moreover, those making the conservative case for SSM argue that SSM will strengthen traditional marriage.

This summer, the lid has been blown off for the conservative case. Many same sex marriage proponents have signed on to a document, Beyond Marriage, which demonstrates the radical and destructive nature of the same sex marriage movement.

“Marriage is not the only worthy form of family or relationship, and it should not be legally and economically privileged above all others. A majority of people – whatever their sexual and gender identities – do not live in traditional nuclear families. They stand to gain from alternative forms of household recognition beyond one-size-fits-all marriage. For example: ….
Households in which there is more than one conjugal partner’

Same sex marriage is a necessary step towards the homogenization of household relationships including polyamory/polygamy.

Stanley Kurtz at NRO exposes the views of mainstream same sex marriage proponents towards marriage, here and here.

http://beyondmarriage.org/

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZDY4Y2U4MGJkODRlZTFhNjk2MjZhZTZlMGMyNmUzZWE=

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MmRhNTdlNDNkOGQxOGFhNDE3ODdlOGI4ODU5ZDljOGE=

 

[Gabriel_Gale]

Kurtz notes:
The Beyond Same-Sex Marriage statement has attracted hundreds of signatures from a wide array of prominent figures. In addition to national liberals like Steinem, West, Lerner, and Ehrenreich, over 90 professors have signed on, a great many from top schools like Harvard, Yale, Princeton, the University of Chicago, Columbia, Georgetown, Brown, Cornell, Williams, Smith, Bryn Mawr, Barnard, the University of Pennsylvania, NYU, Dartmouth, and U.C. Berkeley. Quite a few of these schools had more than one faculty member sign on. Popular writers like Terrence McNally, Armistead Maupin, and Susie Bright joined big-name academics like Judith Stacey and Judith Butler on the Beyond Same-Sex Marriage lists. Quite a few professors from top law schools (e.g., Yale, Columbia, Georgetown) also endorsed the statement. So we are not talking about fringe figures here. The Beyond Same-Sex Marriage manifesto was put forward by a large and prestigious slice of activists, artists, and intellectuals on the cultural Left.

article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZDY4Y2U4MGJkODRlZTFhNjk2MjZhZTZlMGMyNmUzZWE=

Of course, the list of signatories is not with-out Catholic representation:
Robin West
Professor of Law, Georgetown* University Center** of Law*
**Mary E. Hunt, **Catholic feminist theologian
Co-director, Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual
Donna Quinn
National Coalition of American Nuns