Guest blog originally posted on June 26, 2015 at undercoversblog.com by community member Sasha Grossman. Sasha is currently obtaining her Masters of Social Work at NYU, and eventually hopes to become a kink, poly, and LGBTQ affirmative sex therapist. For now, she is an avid reader and prolific writer of sex-positive literature.
Congratulations to the SCOTUS for finally not fucking up. First, it saves Obamacare, and then it legalizes gay marriage across the country! Words cannot express how utterly thrilled I am that people are not being denied their rights simply because of their sexual orientation. The following paragraph, written by Justice Kennedy, about sums up the soaring hearts of many Americans today:
However, there is still something that lurks in the back of my mind: what about the rest of us? What about those of us who don’t want to get married? Why is it still believed that a lack of marriage condemns someone “to live in loneliness”? What about those who are polyamorous? Why does that love not constitute “the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family”?
The legalization of gay marriage is absolutely a victory, and a step in the right direction. But it has gained widespread acceptance primarily because LGBT advocates have been able to prove that same-sex couples are still, at their core, traditional; that they uphold this country’s ideals: of monogamy, a desire to raise children, to live in that house with the white picket fence – that they do not threaten the status quo. But there are countless other people who are forced to hide their sexual proclivities because society does not accept their version of love. There are parents who lose custody because they are kinky. There are lovers who are barred from hospital rooms because they are not married to the patient. There are countless other occurrences of inequality that take place, simply because some people don’t fit the traditional mold. The White House tweeted this today:
But until we change our definition of love, #LoveDoesNotReallyWinYet. Despite my misgivings, today is a momentous and heart-warming day. Let’s hope the U.S.A continues to live up to the values it stands for!