Identity

As pundits, gay and not gay, make sober pronouncements about President Obama's most recent  opinion on gay marriage, my identity remains unchanged. I am thoroughly and happily homosexual . I live in a solidly committed relationship with another gay man.

The LGBTQXYZ political activists of today are quite patient and conservative by the standards of the revolution which got them into their Washington offices. They have become part of the game. The game is politics. Politics have little, perhaps nothing, to do with real people and real lives. 

The legal recognition of marriage between people of the same sex will make the lives of those who are concerned with joint taxes and shared property more complicated. Marriage inevitably raises the question of divorce in modern society. Gay/lesbian partners once relied upon their own contracts to sort out the details of living arrangements and property. This was truly a Libertarian approach to a relationship. No government involved. And, as far as my experience has informed me over forty years of gay life, it has worked out pretty well in most cases. 

The gay political class has sacrificed gay identity for normalization in its quest for marriage and military considerations by government. The overall strategy may well be effective to ensure the safety of LGBTQ people in society. Having recourse under the law probably requires losing some of what has made the gay identity special. 

There are advantages to being an outsider which no law can compensate for. Being an outsider is an identity which fosters an appreciation of other outsiders. It enhances compassion for those whom society typically rejects. What will happen when none of us are outsiders? It is naive to think we will magically all be equal, just because everyone has been normalized on paper. Normalizing on paper is no short-cut to equal justice and opportunity for all. That requires a sea change at the level of each human consciousness.