Thursday, December 04, 2008

Unmarried

I just changed my relationship status on Facebook from "married" to "in a relationship."

Why? Because of A Marriage Manifesto by Tom Ackerman, a gay man. He says his beliefs no longer allow him to recognize marriage, so he's referring to straight people's legally recognized spouses as their "boyfriend" or "longtime companion." The result, Ackerman says, is "instant, eyebrow-raising recognition. Suddenly the majority gets to feel what the minority feels. In a moment they feel what it’s like to have their relationship downgraded, and to have a much taken-for-granted right called into question because of another’s beliefs."

Brilliant.

Join the unrecognizing-marriage club, won't you?

5 comments:

Jess said...

This is part of why my partner and I took each other as "partners" rather than as husband and wife. And part of why we are supposed to refer to each other as such. (Supposed to, because it feels awkward to me, and thus I sometimes wuss out. Working on it...)

The Absent Minded Housewife said...

I know a couple people who need to hear this....

Bobita said...

I'm on it.

Sarahlynn said...

Why on earth did I think that you only had a crossword blog? How could I possibly have been so VERY WRONG?!!

Dixie said...

that's awesome!

best idea yet for helping people understand.