A call for gays to boycott heterosexual weddings
(Image by Flickr user Mihai Bojin (cc))
This story was originally covered by PRI’s Here and Now. For more, listen to the audio above.
In a New York Times Op-Ed piece entitled, “Not Going To The Chapel,” writer Rich Benjamin calls on the gay community to boycott heterosexual weddings until same-sex marriages are nationally recognized.
It’s “utterly absurd to celebrate an institution that I am banned from in most of the country,” he wrote, referring to the wedding of a close friend that he did not attend. “It’s less activism than common sense,” he added. “Why should I financially subsidize and emotionally invest in a ritual that excludes me in all but five states (and the District of Columbia)?”
Benjamin says that he’s not a gay activist but this was a personal stand he had to make. He has been both hailed as courageous and attacked for alienating those who would support gay marriage.
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