“Why is the LGBT community fighting for inclusion in an institution with such a long history of oppression as marriage?”
This was one of the questions raised during the Q&A; session of the “Beyond Marriage” event — a discussion held as part of the two-week Martin Luther King symposium on social justice and human rights — held Wednesday evening at Penn’s LGBT center. The event focused on exploring the goal of legalizing gay marriage and explored other issues of concern to the LGBT community.
Guest speaker Kenyon Farrow, the executive director of Queers for Economic Justice, said although the right to marriage has become a rallying point for the gay community, “it diverts resources from top priority issues, such as homelessness, housing, the AIDS epidemic and hate crime violence.”
As for why the marriage issue has gained such prominence, Farrow said, “despite the rhetoric, it is not about rights. People are invested in the significance of the morality of marriage. They want the moral authority that ring will buy.”
A discussion panel including Rue Landau, executive director of the Philadelphia Human Relations Commission, and Soda Nobuhle, executive director of the Womyn’s Village, shared insights from their personal experience.
Discussing the way marriage often overshadows other LGBT issues, Landau said, “I don’t think marriage is the solution. I’m worried about what will happen if we get the right to marriage and forget about the other, more pressing issues.”
The audience turnout exceeded expectations, according to an event planner. Late arrivals were left standing against the walls for the duration of the 90 minute event.
A Penn alumnae, who did not want to be named, said that she was drawn to the event tonight because, “I was wondering about the focus of the mainstream gay advocacy movement and the complacency that seems to surround the issues other than gay marriage.”
Event organizer and LGBT building coordinator Nina Harris said, “if you look at the diversity of the people here tonight, you can really see how this is an issue lots of people are interested in.”
Regarding the level of awareness of LGBT issues on Penn’s campus, she said “there is definitely an awareness of our presence, but less knowledge of our primary concerns.”
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