Among many libertarians and a few progressivists, the concept of marriage privatization – where the state does not involve itself in the definition of marriage – has gained increasing worth as the debate over LGBT rights continues to intensify in the United States. Of course, a main fear over the concept is the possibility that religious groups could run amok with their own definitions and performances of family relationships which would clash with other religious groups’ definitions and performances, particularly as those who advocate for marriage privatization have not as forcefully argued for a secularization of the institution (in which religious groups’ performances are not recognized by the state, which only recognizes privately-composed contracts).
Tag Archives: marriage equality
The “LGBT convenience store”
The news that Argentina – and Latin America – has just held its first gay marriage ceremony, in addition to the news that Mexico’s Federal District (containing Mexico City) became the first jurisdiction to legalize the recognition of same-sex marriage – comes to me as welcome, but with a shaky, unsettling feeling that such recognitions of marriage equality are granted from the top-down, and can be abrogated within a matter of months if another government institution in Mexico or Argentina decides to strike it down rather than let it be.
