the feminist librarian reads

'Gay' Marriage: Are We All Missing The Point? | Lyla Cicero @ Role/Reboot

We won major victories today over DOMA and Prop 8, laws that discriminate against gay people by policing the gender of their intended spouse. But for a little-recognized portion of the population these laws do something even more insidious: They deny their very existence. They legislate male and female as the only valid genders. Arguments for severing gender from marriage related to gay rights are valid, important, and have gotten us this far. However, to truly win this fight, including winning marriage rights in the 38 states that still lack them, the rights of our gender non-conforming citizens must be a part of the debate, and a part of the solution. It’s time to demand that the denial of marriage rights based on gender identity—an issue conspicuously absent from the recent supreme court proceedings—be at the forefront of the marriage equality movement going forward.