When US President Barack Obama finally articulated his thoughts on same-sex marriage, moving from sympathy to support for the cause, many saw it as a watershed in the movement to accord equal rights to the LGBT community. Indeed, several commentators saw it as the rightful conclusion of the civil rights movement of half a century ago.
Rainbow flag. Symbol of gay pride. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
However, although the symbolic importance can hardly be overemphasised, Obama’s comment means very little practically in the broader struggle for the rights of same-sex couples. Even in the United States, more than thirty states – North Carolina recently becoming the 31st – have legislated to define marriage as the union of a man with a woman, and nothing else. Obama’s comments themselves have served to polarise the election scenario in that country, many of the deciding ‘swing’ states now expected to move decidedly towards the anti-gay rights Republicans.
When the American society, often considered as a fountainhead of civil liberty, is unwilling to accept and incorporate the LGBT community as equal citizens, little needs be told about the attitudes of governments and civil societies in other nations. Indeed, as of today, there are only eight countries that have legislated to legalise same-sex marriage, five of which are European, the others being South Africa, Canada and Argentina. In contrast, nearly thirty countries have laws which ban such marriage. Every other country does not recognise such unions despite not criminalising them. Continue reading
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