[Reader-list] Fwd: WHAT SHOULD THE LGBT MOVEMENT FIGHT FOR? (Sherry Wolf)

[Venugopalan K M]

"..Without acknowledging the evidence to the contrary--and there is
quite a bit--they assumed that given the mainstream nature of
marriage, marriage activists must not care about racism, economic
injustice or taking on the systemic causes of LGBT oppression.

They are both theoretically and factually mistaken.

First, gay marriage is a reform. Like all reforms under capitalism, it
leaves the structure of the system intact while alleviating a
grievance--in this case, the denial of both material benefits and the
desire to have LGBT relationships acknowledged as equal to those of
heterosexuals.

Like the demand for unionization, under which the terms of workers'
exploitation are renegotiated--with workers gaining higher wages and
benefits, but not eliminating the power of bosses--equal marriage
would end some discrimination without eliminating oppression
altogether.

Second, to challenge the demand for same-sex marriage for not
delivering sexual liberation is a bit like disparaging the civil
rights sit-ins to desegregate lunch counters in the early 1960s for
not eliminating racism. It sets up a false expectation for a reformist
demand, and then assails it for not delivering revolutionary
transformation.

At the Left Forum meeting, one married gay couple with HIV/AIDS
hammered home what's really at stake in this struggle.

Vinny Allegrini and Mark de Solla have been living with HIV/AIDS for
20 years, and were married 15 years ago in Canada. In many concrete
and emotionally compelling ways, their daily struggle to keep alive
and take care of each other--and have medical and state authorities
respect their health care wishes--is codified by their marriage
license, which they must carry with them everywhere to prove that they
are not legal strangers, as they lead lives that are shaped by health
care crises.

Socialists and other progressives must engage with the genuine
struggle to try and shape a course that is independent of the
Democratic Party establishment and inclusive of broader civil rights
for all LGBT people."




Analysis: Sherry Wolf

WHAT SHOULD THE LGBT MOVEMENT FIGHT FOR?

Different political approaches are emerging inside the LGBT struggle
over what our aims should be--and how we should fight to achieve them.

http://socialistworker.org/2009/04/21/lgbt-movement



-- 
http://venukm.blogspot.com/