A friend of mine and I were having a discussion yesterday about the whole issue of why gay marriage was so threatening to so many heterosexual people, and just conversing back and forth about the whole issue when she said what her main theory was; and it totally made sense. She said that she believed that the reason gay marriage is so threatening to so many people, is not because it would “disrupt the institution of marriage”, or not even because it would allow us to have the same rights as other people. She said that it was because if we were allowed to marry, it would mean that eventually, we would become more visible with our relationships, and move towards being more open about the existence of those relationships. Gay people would begin to look like a couple when in public; because they would be recognized as a couple by law. We would begin to become more visible, and as such, would cement our place in mainstream society as something more than a sexual deviant or a queeny comic relief.
And you know what, I think she is right. The prospect of seeing two gay men holding hands strolling down the street is such a powerful image to some people that it can drive people to violence; it already has. I think that by “allowing” gay marriage to become legal, the threat of that image becoming more and more mainstream, and the possibility of gay people finding themselves represented more in society in a normal way is just too threatening to some people; more than “upholding the institution of marriage” (whatever that means… 50% divorce rate anyone?). What do you all think? It is an interesting idea, and one that I hadn’t really thought of before. I never made the connection, but honestly wonder, could this be it? Could this be the biggest threat to the legalization of gay marriage; mainstreaming, and thereby providing a more visible presence, of homosexuality? Hmmm… thoughts?
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