Circa75.com -- Meme of the Week: No more special rights for heterosexuals

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Posted by gustav at 05:01AM, Tuesday, November 02nd, 2004

Meme of the Week: No more special rights for heterosexuals

I'm tired of heterosexuals strutting around flaunting their special rights: property inheritance recognized at the federal level, power of attorney when they travel to other states, etc. Enough.

We should all have access to the same rights -- to marry the person we love, regardless of whether heterosexuals make some choice to be attracted to people of the opposite sex; and to have the state recognize our longstanding relationships, in issues of law, property, and child-rearing.

I'm tired of heterosexuals pushing their choice about who to be attracted to in everyone's face. I'm tired of them getting special, preferential treatment when it comes to things like having their spouses automatically qualify for benefits through work, with no questions asked and no wrangling with the legal department; or qualifying for a constitutionally-guaranteed right not to be forced to incriminate their spouses. There should be no more special rights for them, just because of a choice they've made. It's been going on for too long, and it's time they were treated like everyone else.

Messages:

Absolutely right on

Posted by Erik at 2005-11-29 22:15:48
For a long time, I've been aware, as a sort of cultural background noise here in the US especially, of the right-wing grumblings about homosexuals demanding or already having "special rights". I know it might seem crazy, but I never really stopped and thought about how insane that particular brand of twisted logic really is. Thanks, gustav.
- Re: Absolutely right on
  
  Posted by gustav at 2005-12-02 09:14:04
  This is the power of frames, and what progressives have been struggling with for the last decade in American politics. We're too willing to debate right-wingers on their own terms, when they've pre-framed their arguments so we can't possibly win. We're always defending territory that they've made out to be indefensible, rather than attacking and framing their policies in ways that help us. It's hard to explain the complicated, sound-byte-unfriendly rationales behind why parental notification laws for abortion are wrong - whereas it's a lot more fun to demand that wingers explain why your daughter should be forced into pregnancy. Hard to explain why we should fund voting drives; easier to say "Why do Republicans think only rich white people deserve to vote?" It's tricky to try and explain to black southern preachers why they should join forces with (largely white) gay rights supporters for common cause. Easier to say "wait, why are you joining with George Bush on this? How many Iraqis have left black people to die on their rooftops in a flood zone? How many Iraqis, rather than deal with a national emergency affecting a predominantly black area, have opted to make TV appearances with country singers instead? How many times has HRC cut federal funding for college loans and grants? How many times has GLAAD cut funding for military families? Why are you siding with the real villains?"

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