[LINK] "The gay people against gay marriage"

[rfmcdonald]

BBC News' Tom Geoghegan writes about GLBT people uninterested in equal marriage rights. According to Geoghegan, these people fall in two categories: GLBT people who think that marriage is purely heterosexual and that other legal constructions, like civil unions, are adequate; and, GLBT people who think that marriage is inherently oppressive.

Jonathan Soroff lives in liberal Massachusetts with his male partner, Sam. He doesn't fit the common stereotype of an opponent of gay marriage.

But like half of his friends, he does not believe that couples of the same gender should marry.

"We're not going to procreate as a couple and while the desire to demonstrate commitment might be laudable, the religious traditions that have accommodated same-sex couples have had to do some fairly major contortions," says Soroff.

Until the federal government recognises and codifies the same rights for same-sex couples as straight ones, equality is the goal so why get hung up on a word, he asks.

"I'm not going to walk down the aisle to Mendelssohn wearing white in a church and throw a bouquet and do the first dance," adds Soroff, columnist for the Improper Boston.

"I've been to some lovely gay weddings but aping the traditional heterosexual wedding is weird and I don't understand why anyone wants to do that.