Coalition 4 Marriage: Nobody Knows What's Going On In My Mind But Me

Word cloud based on the bios of Coalition For Marriage followers.

Brilliant.

With thanks to Coalition 4 Equal Marriage. x

Occupied Times: Feigning Dissent

'Dominant, institutionalised LGBT organisations would have us believe that the most important issue for LGBT people in the UK at the moment is equal marriage. But, as Louise from Queer Resistance points out, “lots of us are fighting for accommodation, medical care, there are so many more important things in the world. Equal marriage campaigns take attention away from the more important stuff.” The Coalition for Equal Marriage’s all-white campaign video, depicting a gay returning British soldier proposing to his partner, is an excellent example of how the “rights” of minority groups can be instrumentalised by, and assimilated into, mainstream narratives. Granting gay marriage is a relatively easy and inexpensive facade of progressivism, but it obscures the role of governments in creating structural economic inequalities that disproportionately affect LGBT people. Gay marriage has already been instituted by neoliberal governments in Canada and Latin America, with arguably little impact on the everyday lives of the majority of LGBT people...'

From an article, Queer Groups Organise Against The Cuts, in Occupied Times.
I agree about the great "gay marriage" charade, but...
It is just pure moronic untrue pseudo-radicalism to say; "'Dominant, institutionalised LGBT organisations would have us believe that the most important issue for LGBT people in the UK at the moment is equal marriage..."
When only Coalition For Equal Marriage do this.  
So you're dismissing everything, say, the Albert Kennedy Trust does, about teenage homelessness?
I bet they do more than you.
I love Queer Resistance - but I'd be interested to hear a reply from someone involved with QR who isn't white, middle class or able-bodied - hahahaha.
Irony!

Nick Clegg: His Boring Word Is His Bond

"The Coalition Government, the Liberal Democrats and I remain wholeheartedly committed to lifting the ban on equal civil marriage. We are currently consulting on how, not whether, to introduce proposals for equal marriage and I want to encourage everyone to make sure that their voices are heard during this time."

Nick Clegg, in a predictably banal and brief statement sent to Coalition For Equal Marriage.
Despite it just repeating his stock phrase, and looks like it's been cut-and-pasted onto an email by an intern (such commitment!), this has been bigged up by the Independent with the headline; 'Coalition will bring in gay marriage despite Tory resistance, vows Clegg' 
Pink News takes a similar line; 'Nick Clegg warns Tories against backing down on equal marriage'
Eh?
Can anyone see any "warning to the Tories" in the above statement?
Bizarre.
Still, if Nick Clegg gives you his cast iron guarantee on a policy it must be a shoo-in, right?

Homecoming: Like Soldiers Do

Coalition For Equal Marriage have released their homo promo video, Homecoming.
It would be silly to criticise it for being "sentimental" - I presume much of the point was that they wanted to tug at a broad range of heart-strings.
Just like it's meant to be "sweet" and "nice" and "inoffensive".
"No horses were frightened during the making of this picture" etc.
And the chaps seem a bit Merchant-Ivory, if you know worra I mean...
But I wonder why the case for gay marriage so often seems to be conflated with military service - there's a (real-life) soldier and his boyfriend on the recent cover of Attitude magazine.
"Have you heard the one about the Iraq veteran who can fight for his country but can't get married?"
They seem a lovely couple, but I wonder why such imagery has been given such prominence in this debate.
Why are soldier boys the poster boys for UK marriage equality?
Is a gay soldier the ultimate image of a "good gay"?
Do they show that gay men can be "real men"?
A certain kind of gay man loves this idea - witness the paroxysms of excitement over that photo of the real-life US marine kissing his boyfriend that went viral earlier this year.
Homecoming: Not Queens. 
Is the argument that we should be allowed to gay-marriaged as a thank you for helping out in Iraq and Afghanistan?
Is this like the less radical suffragettes who threw himself into the Great War effort to show their loyalty to king and country?
Is this emotional war porn?
Support our gay boys!
Just askin'.

Coalition 4 Marriage: Behind You!

The Independent compares and contrasts Coalition 4 Marriage and Coalition For Equal Marriage; "One side appears well-funded; the other is a shoestring operation."
Nina Lakhani goes digging for the dirt on C4M.
Though she doesn't unearth much that's new, it's worth repeating all the same.

• Coalition For Marriage are basically being run and bankrolled by five shady and sinister evangelical Christian groups.

• They work out of the same building as the Christian Medical Fellowship - here's how much they hate queers. 

• Directors include: Dr Don Horrocks, the head of public affairs for the Evangelical Alliance "which in its latest annual review boasts 300 conversations in the corridors of power and regular contact with 40 MPs and peers".

• Nola Leach, the head of the cash-rich Christian Action Research and Education (CARE) "which, according to its annual report, spent £338,000 last year influencing public policy".

• Andrea Minichiello Williams, a barrister and founder of Christian Concern and the Christian Legal Centre, "which funds high-profile cases 'to protect the freedoms of Christians in society'" - like that mad crucifix lady.

• And Norman Wells, a director of Family Education Trust/Family And Youth Concern who tell lies in schools.

• Colin Hart, C4M's campaign manager, also runs the Christian Institute, "a charity which has been criticised for its overt political campaigning. Adoption experts condemned its organ donor-style cards which read: 'In the event of my death, I do not want my children to be adopted by homosexuals.'"

Stonewall's Ben Summerskill comments wrily: "We remain confused about who is behind the so-called Coalition for Marriage and equally confused about their motives. It would be much more refreshing if they just admitted that they didn't like homosexuals."

Coalition For Marriage: Please Support This Noble Cause

Can I urge all regular viewers to sign this petition?
May I also urge that no-one signs the petition under a childish scatalogical pseudonym, eg The Pope Dines On Choirboys' Cocks, as I have just tried to do in a moment of madness.

Update: There is now a Coalition For Equal Marriage petition and rinky dink website.