There are so many buts.
Firstly, I could now marry a man or a woman, but if I were already married I would have a Spousal Veto if my partner were trans, if I did not want my partner to have gender reconstruction surgery they would have to divorce me in order to do so. I think this sentence the link above sums it up pretty well 'This creates what is possibly the most passive-aggressive legally sanctioned way to initiate a divorce ever, i.e. "I don't want to divorce you, but I'm going to veto your rights until you divorce me." I've not seen any major press coverage of the spousal veto, but then then of course I haven't, not when one of the major charities pushing Equal Marriage are Stonewall.
Stonewall are possibly the largest LGB charity in the UK, does that acronym look odd to you? That's probably because you're used to seeing LGBT or QUILTBAG or GLBTQIA or something else that acknowledges the presences of the trans* and queer people who were at the forefront of the Stonewall riots that Stonewall takes it's name from. They use the name of one of the defining moments of queer history, but don't address the problems and discrimination of the very people who started the riots. Other people than I have written amazingly about this, Stoptransphobia is a good place to start.
The main thing that has been bothering me increasingly, and especially today, is that so much campaigning has been poured into equal marriage, and I worry now it will just all drain away, but there is so much more to do. I can't even feel happy because I am so sad and angry about the appalling state of trans rights and disability rights in the country at the moment, about the huge stigma mental health carries, about how we are apparently in a 'post-racial' society, or the worsening state of LGBT rights in Russia. At least it's not just me, there's this amazing article, and this piece in the Independent.
The Equal Marriage act is something that could potentially make a huge positive difference in my future, and I know I should be happy about that, but it's not enough for me, I want everything to be equal, and truly equal, for everyone. Now I just need to try to feel angry rather than overwhelmed, and try and change more things for the better, while reminding others that just because it's now possible to marry someone of the same sex doesn't mean everything is perfect for LGBT people.
This
creates what is possibly the most passive-aggressive legally sanctioned
way to initiate a divorce ever, i.e. “I don’t want to divorce you, but
I’m going to veto your human rights until you divorce me”. - See more
at: http://www.sarahlizzy.com/blog/?p=154#sthash.wSG3uN7q.dpuf
This
creates what is possibly the most passive-aggressive legally sanctioned
way to initiate a divorce ever, i.e. “I don’t want to divorce you, but
I’m going to veto your human rights until you divorce me”. - See more
at: http://www.sarahlizzy.com/blog/?p=154#sthash.wSG3uN7q.dpuf
This
creates what is possibly the most passive-aggressive legally sanctioned
way to initiate a divorce ever, i.e. “I don’t want to divorce you, but
I’m going to veto your human rights until you divorce me”. - See more
at: http://www.sarahlizzy.com/blog/?p=154#sthash.wSG3uN7q.dpuf
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