Marriage is pwnship

March 14, 2009 at 2:11 pm Leave a comment

Let’s not forget how the idea of ‘marriage’ came about. It embeds the concept of ownership and occupancy into a exclusive relationship sanctioned by law and social acceptance. In the modern old days, this ownership was deemed important for man to secure his lineage by binding female to tend to his seed and progeny. Female, on the other hand, was looking for a mate to ensure the survival of her children. These two goals are not necessarily mutual but by combining, they offered symbiosis.

In the modern dark age, this field of exclusivity narrowed even further and heavier penalties enforced the view to what we see as ‘normal’ today. 1 Man, 1 woman, children. Society has created rules that punish breaches of this family concept and reward those who follow it. Those who would form variations of family groups, now find themselves up against a steel web of bureaucracy, state approved discrimination and hostile neighbours.

I am, of course, referrring to same-sex partnerships and households, but I would also include de facto relationships. Not everyone wants to get married and not every person wants to have children. I’m prompted to write this post by two things, the vid below and a recent look at my taxes that confirmed, to me, that married couples (st8 or not) get more TAX and GOVT BENEFITS than non married couples or singletons.

For many years now, Australia has recognised de facto relationships with childern as on par with marriage although only recently were laws passed to include such benefits for same sex couples. Hooray for all that because the legislation also started unravelling the steel web of bureaucracy that justified discrimination in private and public institutions. Big step forward, no doubt about that. But the view that nuclear families must still be protected above others is still the driving force behind government policy. I’m annoyed that I have to pay for family support that I will never use. However, compared with the 70+ countries that still criminalise homosexual behaviour, 7 with death penalties, I shan’t complain too much.

Linear as bent