Gay marriage, finally!

Today I am sitting in the sun both literally and metaphorically. Gay-marriage has cleared Parliament and received Royal assent. This time next year, same-sex marriages will be performed as a regular, and lawful, practice. I have one thing to say: about bloody time.

The U.K has been getting there for quite some time now but this news comes as the final flourish of certainty for homosexual couples.
I have recently had a few wistful conversations with friends about what we would like to have for our weddings in the distant future. I’m always an active participant; I love a good wedding, all that preparation and all that fuss. Even if you are cynical toward the idea of ‘true love’, if you don’t crack a smile for the happy couple, then you may need to check whether you are in fact a robot. But when the time always came for me to say what I wanted I’d say my ideas with little conviction. No matter the way you spun it, a civil partnership always came in second and was subordinate under the shadow of marriage. Referring to my significant other as my ‘civil partner’, for me, connotes the idea they are my polite sidekick in fighting crime not the love of my life.

However, as always with good news, you can never be too complacent. Boris Dittrich writes a very sobering article for The Independent, reminding us that homophobic discrimination still has a notable presence in Britain and around the world. Dittrich is right. The state of things in Indiana only epitomises how the struggle for global marriage equality is going to be a long one. From July 1st 2014 and onwards same-sex couples applying for a licence to marry, will be criminals. These ‘criminals’ could end up with a sentence that may result in an imprisonment of up-to 18 months. This makes me feel violently sick. Barbaric ‘laws’ like this must be eliminated. Just likea tumour must be fought and removed, so should this pathetic ideological structure.

Britain now joins countries such as Uruguay and France and the more countries that open their arms to same-sex marriage means the more chances we have of deleting homophobia and marriage inequality. That is why I take my hat off to societies and groups like Warwick Rowing adding a voice to the Ben Cohen Standup Foundation. This is the sort of proactivity that we need.

I hate the notion that there will always be prejudice and that it is utterly inevitable. I might be waving an idealist flag here but I don’t believe that corrupt ideologies are immutable. It’ll take a while certainly but in a world where you can access ad infinitum of data through the smallest of devices tell me that a solid attitude change cannot be affected. Is this a tenuous comparison, I hear you say? Well I don’t believe it is. If we weren’t capable of such a change in moral perception then I wouldn’t be writing this article today.

Britain must now join in the desire to educate globally where marriage inequality is a prevalent force. This is a time to celebrate here in Britain but we must never ever throw caution to the winds. The campus here at University of Warwick has a diverse intake of an international and local population. In such a community, we, more so than ever, have a collective responsibility. There are, I’m sure, students and staff here at Warwick whose home country or state is not so secure in its political and social view of total marriage equality. Today, right here, now, we are becoming more and more privileged and we must not forget it. However, this university and others around the U.K need to rally together to ensure that not only do attitudes remain progressive in Britain but improve all over the world as well.

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Header image courtesy of The Department for Culture, Media and Sport