as small as a world and as large as alone, andreashettle: madeofpatterns: konora: ...

2:41am May 4, 2015

madeofpatterns:

konora:

rubyfruitjumble:

I am honestly so annoyed by everyone on here being SO flippant about marriage rights with no acknowledgement that the movement for gay marriage grew out of the AIDS crisis when people literally could not visit their dying loved ones in the hospital because they were not married. By all means continue to spread the word about other issues that our communities face that do not get enough attention but this is not about a fucking ceremony. There’s so much more to it than that and this approach is frustratingly ahistorical

THIS. THIS SO MUCH.
Yes, there are other issues and we shouldn’t just stop at something so fundamental as being able to get married… but the fact that we’ve been able to accomplish even this is so amazing.
It’s one of my biggest fears to be barred from visiting my partner if anything ever happens, or vice versa. Having that little bit of legal paperwork that says I’m supposed to be there could make all the difference.
So while I am completely supportive of the other issues in the LGBTQ community, marriage equality is deeply important to me, on a personal level, and I will stomp all over anyone who tries to devalue it.

That and also…
Marriage is important, on any number of levels. It’s a very longstanding tradition, and having access to that *matters*.
On any number of levels. This is one really important reason. There are many others.

One more reason marriage rights matter is because lack of legal recognition of a couple’s relationship can keep them apart if one is not a US citizen. Only with legally wedded couples can the US citizen sponsor their loved one for a green card. There are couples and families being torn apart because of the government refusal to recognize anything other than (binary) male/female marriage.