Elizabeth Gilbert
‘Almost the only way that marriage can continue to mean something in any sort of real way is if it gets more inclusive’
SOUNDBITES — “What I do think it would do is make marriage relevant again, in a way that it’s seeming to not be as much anymore. A lot of heterosexual couples are reluctant to get married because there’s a sense of, Why should I have access to this when my friends who have been together just as long as me don’t? It starts to make marriage look like a country club. Almost the only way that marriage can continue to mean something in any sort of real way is if it gets more inclusive.” —Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert, whose follow-up book Committed is being trashed by critics, on the positives of legalizing gay marriage (via)
Bless you, Elizabeth Gilbert for being inclusive. I thought your book was lovely, too.
I agree. The fact that gays and lesbians want to get married proves that we “get it”; the “it” being the importance and relevance of marriage. Heterosexuals have destroyed marriage; reality tv shows, lax or no-fault divorce laws; quickie celebrity marriages in Vegas have taken away it’s meaning and relevance. The fact that gays actually seek it out could save the entire institution and make it relevant again. Straight couples will see (and do see) how much we are fighting for that right and maybe they will look at the institution in a brand new light.
I’ve always said that inclusiveness makes an institution stronger.
I get the book “Eat, Pray, Love” confused with “Eats, Shoots, Craps & Leaves”— which is a quite different book.
Hats off to Ms Gilbert for her views on inclusiveness. Goes to show that not all people who pray are evil/scary/terrible, even though it seems like the noisy nasty pray-ers drown out the decent people who pray pretty quietly just to throw a little positivity into their lives.
The less serious book I hope to read or write would have a similar title: Meet, Pay, Love, Leave. Catchy, eh?
IN fact, you could argue that all these half-ass compromises like DP benefits and registries are the real assault on “marriage”.