Spring Break
The Daily OrangeGay Americans have earned the right to say their wedding vows
By Kevin Eggleston
Posted: 3/18/08, 12:59 AM EST Section: Opinion
Once upon a time, inner city slums from the Hillcrest neighborhood in San Diego to Washington Square West in Philadelphia were filled with prostitutes, torn apart by violence and decried as terrible environments to raise a family. It was a sad and hopeless situation, to say the least.
But, by the 1970s, hope returned to many of these neighborhoods - and not in the form of then Hawaiian wonderkid, Barack Obama. Gays and lesbians and other members of the LGBT community began moving to some of the most rundown areas of America's inner cities. There, the "first mover" minorities pulled an "Amy Adams" as they enlisted the locals in a decades-long "Happy Working Song" setting up shops, beautifying the homes and parks and developing an active sense of community.
These communities have now gentrified, with skyrocketing property values and according to demographer Gary Gates, increased creative output and technological progress. And they've also become wonderful places to raise a family, as the influx of married heterosexual couples in San Fran's Castro district can attest.
And everyone lived happily - wait, no, not everyone. Those "heterosexual married couples" are now the ones in the sad and hopeless situation. As former Gov. Eliot Spitzer reminds us, married men turning to prostitution is as problematic as ever. National Crime Statistics reported domestic violence occurs in at least 60 percent of marriages.
According to Divorce Magazine, the existence of which is its own sign of trouble, approximately half of married couples last 15 years before splitting - right at a time when it can affect children the most. At this moment, countless marriages are marred by prostitutes and mistresses, torn apart by violence and decried as terrible environments to raise a family.
I'd say it's about time to send in the gays and gentrify the state of marriage in America. And again, there is hope - and this time Barack Obama can help if he has the courage to do so. Today, many members of the LGBT community desire only to settle down, get married and raise a family.
But, by the 1970s, hope returned to many of these neighborhoods - and not in the form of then Hawaiian wonderkid, Barack Obama. Gays and lesbians and other members of the LGBT community began moving to some of the most rundown areas of America's inner cities. There, the "first mover" minorities pulled an "Amy Adams" as they enlisted the locals in a decades-long "Happy Working Song" setting up shops, beautifying the homes and parks and developing an active sense of community.
These communities have now gentrified, with skyrocketing property values and according to demographer Gary Gates, increased creative output and technological progress. And they've also become wonderful places to raise a family, as the influx of married heterosexual couples in San Fran's Castro district can attest.
And everyone lived happily - wait, no, not everyone. Those "heterosexual married couples" are now the ones in the sad and hopeless situation. As former Gov. Eliot Spitzer reminds us, married men turning to prostitution is as problematic as ever. National Crime Statistics reported domestic violence occurs in at least 60 percent of marriages.
According to Divorce Magazine, the existence of which is its own sign of trouble, approximately half of married couples last 15 years before splitting - right at a time when it can affect children the most. At this moment, countless marriages are marred by prostitutes and mistresses, torn apart by violence and decried as terrible environments to raise a family.
I'd say it's about time to send in the gays and gentrify the state of marriage in America. And again, there is hope - and this time Barack Obama can help if he has the courage to do so. Today, many members of the LGBT community desire only to settle down, get married and raise a family.
Viewing Comments 1 - 5 of 5
dhgfgg
posted 3/18/08 @ 7:57 AM EST
Gentrification isn't typically seen as a net positive by academics. The working class people displaced by gentrification have to live somewhere. Gentrification does not solve any problems- it only sweeps them under the proverbial carpet. (Continued…)
Amit Taneja
posted 3/18/08 @ 9:51 AM EST
Thank-you Kevin for addressing the importance of marriage equality for LGBT people. I can appreciate your intent of including gentrification in the article - I read it as LGBT people being able to work through tough situations to make things "better". (Continued…)
Kevin
posted 3/18/08 @ 11:50 AM EST
Thank you, both of you. I do realize that there are more compelling reasons for gay marriage and I do wish I could address them. And I regret not mentioning gentrification's effects on the poor. (Continued…)
Mike G.
posted 3/23/08 @ 10:48 AM EST
Gays have already restored inner-city communities across America, let them now try to restore dignity to the state of the American family by giving them the chance to say "I do. (Continued…)
Edwin Dean
posted 3/26/08 @ 12:57 AM EST
SENATOR ROBERT BYRD OF WEST VIRGINIA FOR PRESIDENT!
STOP THE MADNESS! RESTORE TRUE VALUES OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY! BYRD IN 2012!
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