Tying the Knot
13 February 2005, terribly early in the morning
Stephen Harper, leader of Canada’s opposition party, in a clever bid to win seats in Toronto, decided he would place ads in the community newspapers of various ethnic groups within the city. My father saw them in the Tamil and Indian papers that he reads. What was in these ads? Something about how Harper wants to protect traditional marriage.
Ah yes, traditional marriage. You know, where women are property and interracial couples can’t tie the knot. I long for those simpler times as well. They sure were simple, weren’t they? I’m glad Harper is rallying behind this cause; I’m sure he’ll do great in the next election. Everyone loves a bigot, especially the ethnic community. But will my fellow Tamils see it like that? I’d like to think so, but sometimes I have my doubts.
I watched Tying the Knot tonight. It’s a documentary about the problems faced by homosexuals when they are denied their right to get married. The documentary was quite good, and really brings to light the injustice that comes about from denying gays the right to marry. The movie is powerful because it puts a human face on this issue; the two main stories the director focuses on are quite sad. Gina once wrote that 1,049 federal rights in America depend on marriage, which I read at the time and thought was interesting, but didn’t really reflect on in any great detail. I used of this issue as a simple matter of equality, but there is more to it than that, it’s really a matter of dignity. A widow should not have to prove to anyone else, especially the state: that she deserves her spouses pension, that her spouse loved her, and that she would have wanted her to have it; It’s insulting.
By the summer, it should be legal on a federal level for homosexual couples to marry in Canada. Provincially, this is already the case in many parts of the country. This makes me happy; I’m glad I live in a country where the rights of minorities are upheld.
In matters of conscience, the Law of Majority has no place.—Mahatma Gandhi , 4th August 1920
Speaking of which, when are you tying the knot?
by rishi on February 13 2005, 9:19 pm #
I want to know too! :o
by sh!ma on February 13 2005, 10:53 pm #
I say we start holding bets now.
by krishna on February 14 2005, 12:11 am #
Hey, I don’t see you for a couple of months and you’re getting married? Well congratulations.
Let’s have a drink to celebrate sometime next week. Wow, I wouldn’t have thought you were first on the list Ram, it’s pretty cool.
Later,
Vic
by Victor on February 14 2005, 12:55 am #
I think you guys have missed the point of this post; that said, drinks sound good Victor, and I thought Shima was going to propose to me.
by ramanan on February 14 2005, 1:04 am #
I don’t think anyone missed the point of the post. I think you have missed that these comments are unrelated to the post. That said, if you let Shima propose to you, I will never let you forget the coward you will have proven yourself to be.
by rishi on February 14 2005, 1:08 pm #
I was being sarcastic; how could I not propose? On a side note: I wonder how hard it would be to add a valid sarcasm tag to XHTML 1.1. I wonder if someone has already done so. XHTML is supposed to be extensible.
by ramanan on February 14 2005, 1:27 pm #
How do you know I wasn’t being sarcastic? You don’t know, because you can’t tell. Get some sarcasm tags up in this mother.
by rishi on February 14 2005, 1:55 pm #
I’m freaking out.
by ramanan on February 14 2005, 2:04 pm #