(Quotidian) Queer Qoncepts: Homonormativity

genderqueer:

browntranslaments:

Here’s the word of the day, kids:

HOMONORMATIVITY - ‘A politics that does not contest dominant heteronormative assumptions and institutions, but upholds and sustains them, while promising the possibility of a demobilized gay constituency and a privatized, depoliticized gay culture anchored in domesticity and consumption’ ( L. Duggan 2003 )

(via brownroundboi)

Basically, homonormativity sees (primarily) gay and lesbian people working towards the assimilation of non-heterosexual people into heteronormative structures of kyriarchy. For example, instead of challenging the constraints of the heteronormative gender system and working to destabilize historically hegemonic institutions, the homonormative project aims to make space for gay people within the already existing (and problematic) gender system [so we find a gender hierarchy with femininity at the bottom; “No fats, no fems” sound familiar?] and all the institutions attached to them, including marriage and standards of civility.

Source: brownroundboi

shortformblog: Today, same-sex marriage is legal in Maryland. (By the way, congrats!) Alas, not everyone’s a fan. The guy above, for example, who stopped a popular wedding trolley business that earned him $50,000 per year because he didn’t want to have to serve gay couples due to his Christian beliefs.
Pop-upView Separately

shortformblog:

Today, same-sex marriage is legal in Maryland. (By the way, congrats!) Alas, not everyone’s a fan. The guy above, for example, who stopped a popular wedding trolley business that earned him $50,000 per year because he didn’t want to have to serve gay couples due to his Christian beliefs.

MD Gov Says He’d Sign Gay Marriage Bill

MD Gov Says Hed Sign Gay Marriage Bill

Earlier today, Maryland’s Democratic Governor, Martin O’Malley told reporters that he would sign a bill legalizing gay marriage in the Old Line State if he is reelected and such a bill is presented after passing through the state’s General Assembly.

O’Malley made the comment on WTOP, which is his most direct public comment on gay marriage to date. During his first term, O’Malley has consistently stated he favors civil unions but has never said he stands against same-sex marriage.

O’Malley’s statement was in response to a question asked by a caller on WTOP’s  “Ask the Governor” program.  He stated:

“I don’t have a crystal ball to predict how this goes, but I do know this: I know the people of our state well enough that for all of the differences and diversities of backgrounds and opinions, that all of us want to find a way to craft our laws in such a way that it treats people equally under the law.”

O’Malley reiterated his personal belief that civil unions are a suitable compromise, but added:

“Should the legislature find a way to reach that compromise in another way, I would sign a bill like that. We need to find a way to support equal rights, and that is true when it comes to committed gay and lesbian couples and the unions in which they choose to enter and raise children and all the issues that go with that.”

Martin O’Malley - Governor, Maryland

Catholics, Gays Face Off in Mexico

MEXICO CITY PRIDE X390 (GETTY) | ADVOCATE.COM

Tensions flared on Sunday in Guadalajara, Mexico when gay rights activists and a group of Roman Catholics squared off.

The activists were voicing support for same-sex marriage; the Mexican supreme court recently upheld Mexico City’s legalization of gay marriage. The Associated Press reports that a Roman Catholic person ripped up the sign of one of the gay rights demonstrators, leading to yelling on both sides. It was the second confrontation in Guadalajara in two days between members of the Roman Catholic faith and gay activists.

Click here for the full story.

Anglican Vicar to Wed Younger Male Model

The news that an Anglican vicar in England intends to wed a male model less than half his age has created a stir in the U.K.

Though legal marriage is not available to gay and lesbian families in Britain, civil partnership is. But what has caused a fuss is the intention on the part of the vicar to have his union blessed in the church.

The issues of gay clergy and the question of blessing same-sex unions have roiled the Anglican faith since 2003, when openly gay U.S. Episcopalian cleric V. Gene Robinson was made a bishop. Prior to that, the church was already under strain by the question of women being ordained as clergy. Branches of the Anglican faith in other parts of the world—most notably in Asia and Africa—objected strenuously to gays being allowed to serve as clergy, and to same-sex unions being blessed, but some Episcopalian churches in North America have proceeded with such blessings.