We expose the institution of marriage as one of the most insidious and basic sustainers of the system. The family is the microcosm of oppression. Homosexual marriages submitting to the guildelines of so-called conventional rites must be classed as reactionaryMartha Shelley, Founder of the Gay Liberation Front, 1969
This was the face of the gay rights movement in the 1960s. I’ve expressed dismay that this line of thinking is still prevalent in the movement, but I am thankful that we’re starting to move past it. People of my generation just don’t see being gay as such a radical thing as it once was. In many regards, homosexuality has become just another mundane aspect of human existence. Gay no longer necessarily means anti-family. Most gay youths today are growing up with the same aspirations for a life long partner and a family as their straight peers.
This is why I’m generally ambivalent toward the Queer Left. They, not unlike Christian Conservatives, seek to associate homosexuality with intrinsic difference, which I think is a myth.
