Defending Gays from Marriage?

Barack Obama's decision not to defend DOMA is a big step forward for proponents of gay marriage, but not all queer people are that invested in the outcome.  Some gay activists support equality generally but think that marriage is an intrinsically heterosexist or destructive institution and don't want queers to buy into it.

If you're interested in thinking and talking about this issue, you should come by the YPU debate "R: Abolish No Fault Divorce" tonight.  Don't be put off by the topic or by the fact that the guest is from *shudder* Focus on the Family; the YPU picked this topic to have a debate about the goals of the institution of marriage and whether it's desireable for everyone.  I know that Marian, one of the people scheduled to speak, is giving a very liberal, anti-marriage speech.  She's excellent and sure to be thought-provoking, so it will be worth waiting through the (probably offensive) remarks of the guest to hear her.

The debate starts at 7:30 in WLH 119.  If you have any questions about format or asking questions, post here or grab me at the debate (I'm the one with very curly brown hair).

Midnight Deliberations...Senior Year

Next year I will be a senior.

And I haven't been able to not think about what I want to do with it. It'll be my last year in college. Academically, I am pretty set: although I am a Political Science major by credits, I want to explore classes in Anthropology, in Gender Studies, and in Philosophy. I also plan on submitting a thesis proposal. So I'm comfortable in the academic sphere.

What I'll do after graduation? Well, who knows, maybe grad school, maybe a job, although I'm leaning more toward the latter. A job in what? Who knows, I guess I'll have to do a lot of research over the summer. But that's not what I've been thinking about...

"What kind of impact do I want to have on my campus? And how do I want to go about doing this?"

This inevitably has led me to think about leadership positions, clubs on campus, potential clubs I may want to found. There are a couple of things I'd like to do, but only so much time, so I really have to choose. Another option is to simply enjoy senior year without any extracurricular commitments/with not so many. And that may be what ends up happening, but a big part of me really wants to do something, create, explore, change, and grow in the process.

Seniors out there, what have you guys done with your senior year? Everyone else, what are you planning on doing next year? What do you absolutely want to do?

The way I think about it is this: College is over, it's been maybe two years after I graduated, and I look back to my college experience...

Did I love it? What, if anything, was missing?

With this question I seek to capture that which I want to spend my senior year doing. Of course, there is a lot more than extracurricular commitments, that's just been one of the things I've thought about.

I'd love your feedback, and to hear what you guys have done/want to do?

Much love, always