Marriage and Equality
Has marriage become a universally ‘gay’ celebration for many— literally?
Marriage (original definition): the formal union of a man and a woman, typically as recognized by law, by which they become husband and wife.
(Apple Dictionary, 2014).
For many years there has been a strong and widely-acclaimed social view that marriage should be the lawful coupling of man and woman; until the 29th March of this year. On this day, England and Wales (soon to be followed by the rest of Britain) accepted marriage as being the legal coupling of man and woman, man and man, or woman and woman. ‘Gay’ marriage was legalised— a beautiful victory in a prejudiced world. A remarkable victory which has exemplified how social change can quickly come about when fighting for the justice of one’s rights in a cohesive manner.
So, what does that mean for ‘marriage’ and its traditions?
The notion of homosexual relationships has always been a taboo subject, through kingdom-come. The stigma of a gay or lesbian relationship was always that it was simply unnatural; seen to many as an unholy coupling inept from ‘procreational capabilities’. Shortly after midnight on that 29th March evening, many gay couples had quickly began to make the ding-dong of wedding bells alternatively chime to the ding-ding, or dong-dong of a same-sex partnership.
The first ‘equal’ marriage was said to have taken place in Camden Town Hall, London, between Sinclair Treadway, 20, and Sean Adl-Tabatabai, 32, at the at the stroke of midnight, when the new same-sex marriage laws were enacted— joining the race to become “Britian’s first married same sex couple”.
Mayor Cllr Jonathan Simpson, who is Camden’s first openly gay mayor, aided the management of their wedding, which is a clear monument within British society and same-sex love. Simpson told the Hampstead and Highgate Express that “It’s a huge day and especially significant for myself.”
“I remember some of the first protests I attended were demonstrating against Section 28 laws in the 80s, which banned local authorities from promoting homosexuality.
“We’ve come a long way since then and I’m very proud Camden will be one of the first to hold a gay marriage.
“It’s a landmark moment for civil rights and it’s been a long struggle.”
The 29th March not only gave equality to all same gender-relationships and marriage, it boosted the confidence of a nation of civilly partnered same-sex lovers (as well as unmarried couples), who have more scope for expressing their love in a traditionally legal manner. It is with great hope that they will not have to reveal their only natural emotions for their one love in a clandestine manner, as for many years social disapprovement from a widely homophobic society belittled the moralities of love within same-gender relationships. Civil Partnerships (previously a rather modern, yet poignant platform for same-sex couples to express their love for one another) have from now on suggestively become a thing of the past. The Same Sex Couples Act has given homosexual partners the freedom to become married partners in the eyes of the law— and for those religious groups willing to accept the social change, a way of a couple expressing their love for one another within their faith, within the benevolent hands of God.
Well renowned British comedian, Sandi Toksvig, used the first day of equal marriage (Same Sex Couples Act) to express her and partner Debbie’s love for one another, by renewing their Civil Partnership vows at the Royal Festival Hall in London: where they also initially became civil partners. Toksvig used her renewal of vowels as “a public declaration of a personal love in order to share our joy with as many people as possible.”
Although Toksvig and her partner had chosen not to participate in the first wave of same sex marriages, her renewal of vowels was a token of expressing her unconditional love for her female partner, publically expressing that “[From March 29th] we can all celebrate whom we choose to love”.
“I always wanted to get married. I was very drawn to the idea of a partner with whom you went through life, a mate who was always in your corner. It seemed to me rather perfect that you might come home each day to your best friend, the person you loved and who loved you beyond all others, but I grew up suspecting that, for me, such a union was an impossibility.”
It is however, with great unfortunateness that homophobic ideologies are rife (although less prominent compared to some thirty years ago) within our modern (and what is meant to be seen as a cohesive) society.
Equal Marriage was somewhat seen as the ‘Cinderella’ of equality, as once midnight struck, instead of having to ‘leave the ball’ as the fairytale goes, a rampage of homophobic comments struck social and public media. It was sadly social (and a personal acquisition for some) to attempt to derail the accomplishments to many years of gay and lesbian people campaigning with pride: to exercise their rights when it comes to joining their lovers in wedlock, or having legal recognition for their love with a same-sex partner.
Late Labour MP, Tony Benn once prudently argued that “when you think of the number of men in the world who hate each other, why, when two men love each other, does the church split?”— This itself poses as a very good question, giving a lot of food for thought for those who oppose any sorts of gay marriage or same-gender equality.
In personal opinion, one of the most prominent homophobic opinions were that of a spokesperson for Christian Concern, who strongly exclaimed that “marriage is beautiful”. Agreeably, yes it is. However, her belief of marriage being beautiful entailed the preservation of heterosexual marriage, where man and woman come together, particularly to procreate.
It is clear that prejudice against homosexual rights and activities is still a very strong aspect of society. It was deeply saddening to be listening to LBC on the night of great social change, to hear a presenter be told he is going to hell for being gay. That itself is a vile and quite frankly obscene claim; a very outdated claim, only typically seen as prudent in a pre-20th century era.
Upon reflection, it is extremely clear that our society as a whole has acheived numerous social changes for the better over the past several decades. To think back, that not even forty years ago, hate crime against gays was a common and significantly unfortified problem within our world. It’s even more shocking that (slightly off subject) there was massive divides in society with the apartheid, being a prominent cultural discrimination against black people.
Although the UK is not the first country to legalise same-sex marriage, it is clear that we as a community have come a long way in our fight for mass equality (even if the passing of law is slightly dilatory compared to other countries such as Canada or some parts of the USA).
Nonetheless, with such newfound freedoms from a wedlock respect, one can only look forward to the future of a soceity where what was once deemed as an extremely unconventional and Disney-like love story, of marriage between two men or two women, has now become a diligent social norm.
We have fought for years for social equality on grand scales. This is just one milestone which our country has overcome. The fight continues for global equality between all genders, races, sexual profiles and beliefs…
And as Labour MP Ed Miliband exclaimed regarding this controversial topic:
“Our battle for equality can’t stop at same-sex marriage while prejudice still remains”.
