Notes from Queer Avengers discussion group: marriage and the family

Discussion of whether to reform marriage and/or abolish it.

Argument for abolition:

  • marriage privileges certain relationships

  • sanction used to maintain capitalist norms and property relations

  • Restricts relationships: marriage for immigration must be monogamous

  • Extension of marriage rights used to regulate relationships: women’s access to DPB cut off due to “relationships in the nature of marriage”

Arguments for reform:

  • many people seek marriage for a wide range of understandable reasons. Some present in the discussion have married or are intending to marry.

  • People who do want to marry a member of the same-sex feel excluded by anti-marriage rhetoric about “heteronormativity” and “assimilation.”

Read More