Omar G. Encarnación for New York Times Opinion: “America Got Gay Marriage, but It Came at a Cost”

“Marriage equality was not enough to bring full equality to LGBTQ Americans,” writes Omar G. Encarnación, Charles Flint Kellogg Professor of Politics in the Division of Social Studies at Bard, for New York Times Opinion. “It would be wishful to think it could, perhaps. But the gay marriage campaign was a major missed opportunity to expand LGBTQ equality. When compared with its foreign counterparts, the American campaign was notable for one thing: the extraordinary modesty of its framing.” Encarnación argues that, while marriage equality for same-sex couples was a major step in American society, “it did not require Americans to question their fundamental assumptions about LGBTQ people.” He cites the approaches taken in different countries—Spain, Argentina, Canada, Brazil, South Africa, and Ireland—as having an emphasis on matters such as dignity and equal citizenship rights. “In all of them, gay marriage was framed as a moral issue rather than a legal matter.”

Post Date: 06-25-2024