PunditPending

Michael Weinstein: Gay Marriage Will Save Lives

Dorothy emailed us a fresh report presented at The Huffington Post which is sure to raise a few eyebrows. A passage reads:

The nationwide furor around gay marriage has eclipsed at least temporarily the health crisis that continues to plague gay men. At the same time that we heard wedding bells and pledges of life-long fidelity from gay men in Massachusetts and elsewhere, we have soaring rates of HIV in homosexual men. One almost feels guilty bringing up the subject of sexual responsibility at a time when the gay community is waging a pitched battle to secure the right to marry. But ironically, gay marriage — and the values any sanctioned marriage encourages — may be one of the single most successful ways to promote safer sex.

In the past, most everything in gay sub-culture revolved around being single and available. Long-term couples often felt like they were on the outside looking in. Slick advertising for circuit parties where men “party” for days on end became the order of the day. There was little room for marital bliss in this picture. And while the yearning for committed relationships and love often burns as brightly in gay men as in anyone else, it didn’t have a lot of support. No gay wedding magazines or announcements in the newspapers. Meanwhile, many gay men became conditioned to see becoming HIV positive as a natural right of passage of gay life.

Suddenly everything seems different. It is hip to be gay and be married. In 2004, Massachusetts — the state with the lowest divorce rate in the nation — paved the way, and despite fear and protestations, the Commonwealth somehow survived. In the heart of the homeland, Iowa followed, joined last year by Connecticut. California also took a step closer to this goal, which resulted court rulings and the landmark federal court case, Perry v. Schwarzenegger currently before the 9th circuit court.

[…]

• 2, Mar, 2010