By Steven Monaghan
Some people believe that a prerequisite to LGBTQ liberation is the ability to enter into wedded bliss, it is these people I wish to address, but more so I speak to those self-proscribed revolutionaries on the left who claim to understand capitalism, who claim to understand oppression and yet curiously see so called ‘gay marriage’ as compatible with queer liberation.
With the number of heterosexuals getting married the lowest for over 70 years here in the UK and with frankly woeful divorce rates one must question why gays, straights and all in between have become so fascinated (distracted?) with the minefield politics of gay marriage. To be queer if nothing else is to blur the lines of sexuality and gender and antagonise the very anti-sex and conservative society that represses queer consciousness. Marriage, in whatever guise can only ever offer assimilation with heterosexuals; denying distinctive queer values and in doing so is irrelevant to most, if not all of those who reject sexual dimorphism and hetero confines.
Marriage was established as a symbol of heterosexual male power; a tool used by the state and the church to perpetuate gender myths, violence and female subordination. Marriage then is not just anti-queer in it’s own right, but defends the whole system of sexual inequality that we should be against. Why then are those of the anti-capitalist left so quick to advocate ‘gay marriage’ on our behalf despite it being against our very interests? This is because the left have yet to drop the shallow reformism that has diseased them for centuries! Anarcho-queers are explicitly clear on this question; we do not seek mere equality with heterosexuals, we want liberation, and yes that means abolishing capital and with it the state, but liberation goes much further, challenging not just economic inequalities but fundamental societal conventions that hetero-normative society regurgitates.
Advocating stepping stone politics, in the form of fighting for the ability of queers to marry is to fight for equal rights within a framework controlled and dominated by an unfree and ‘straight’ society. Marriage therefore is the epitome of self-hate for queers, why would we want to replicate heterosexual society that takes from us our distinctive identities and values? Such short-sightedness when advocated by the LGBTQ community is at best giving into pressure to simply conform to the straight jacket of a patriarchal society. When advocated by straights it is patronising. This is made worse by those on the Marxist left who have bought into this train-wreck position of hetrosexualising queer identity. They wouldn’t and shouldn't fight for our right to serve in the class-ridden, homophobic and macho armed forces, they wouldn’t demonstrate over our inability to join parasitic organisations like the National Front or Christian Voice.That would be a counter-productive integrationist strategy, with queers changing to suit hetero society. Yet all too often the bankrupt left advocate this very same precarious position when it comes to marriage. Go figure??
Another reason queers are averse to marriage is because we recognise that being granted a piece of paper that makes you of higher worth than another is wrong in itself. Furthermore we appreciate that promising to ‘love, honour and obey’ another is a completely irrelevant aspiration that weakens our calls for queer liberation. We do not need to chain ourselves with heterosexual expectations to express our love! There is no need for a marriage certificate to validate any sense of commitment or respect.
This isn’t the politics of separatism, but a wish to remain outside of the game of sexist role play ‘domination vs. subordination’ that embodies heterosexual, capitalist society. Infact the strategy for queer liberation will lead to sexual liberation for all. Heterosexuals too are trapped in a sex-negative repressive society. In defending queer freedom and our right to be queer and proud we also create the foundations for the liberation of individuals everywhere.
We recognise that the identities, relationships and behaviour of queers can be different to lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and hetero individuals, just as they can (and do) display different behaviours from one another. It is with this tool that we seek liberation rather than equality; wishing to come outside of masculinity and femininity and proudly celebrate our sexual differences whilst winning social acceptance of our distinctive and virtuous queer values. This is true liberation, this is the weapon with which to fight a society so embedded in conservatism it is rotten. What we mustn’t do is go down the road of copy-cat collusion with the straight-is-normality status-quo. We queers reject the use of tools of oppression to win short-term equality with straights, we will not invisibly blend into straight society. It’s time some people got over their love affair with ‘gay marriage’ and come to realise that most aspects of hetero-normative society are simply not worth emulation.
