Those who complain about how the lgbt community is unfairly comparing itself to the African-American community in terms of the struggle for equality are probably not going to be happy to hear this news, so I want to tell it as soon as possible.
Howard University - a historically black college - made a very interesting comparison between the laws against interracial marriage and those against marriage equality. The university said arguments used to justify laws against interracial marriage (which were struck down by
Loving vs. Virginia) and arguments used to justify laws against marriage equality are "strikingly similar."
Lawyers for the university made the connection in a recently submitted brief to the Supreme Court for the upcoming Prop 8 trial.
According to
Think Progress:
The brief goes on to highlight five distinct arguments that transcend
the debates between marriage equality for interracial couples and
marriage equality for same-sex couples:
- SOCIAL ORDER: Marriage equality is a threat to the social order and would “introduce a form of pollution to marriage.”
- SEXUALIZATION: The people who want to get married have relationships that are purely sexual, promiscuous, and “deviant.”
- PSEUDOSCIENCE: Researchers have distorted research to raise fears about supposed consequences of marriage equality.
- JUDEO-CHRISTIAN VALUES: The Bible forbids recognizing these relationships.
- CHILDREN: These relationships will cause physical and psychological damage to the children they raise.
Think Progress
continues with an excellent summation of the Howard University brief.
No doubt the National Organization for Marriage and others who want to exploit the alleged black vs. gay divide will most likely ignore this briefs and the facts put out in it.
I say we don't let them.
