Of all the arguments we’ve heard against same-sex marriage, this one is the oddest: British philosopher Roger Scruton claims marriage equality is homophobic.
In Monday’s Spectator, Scruton wrote in a commentary that shared a byline with think-tank guru Phillip Blond:
Equality used to allow those who differ not to subsume themselves under another’s identity but to claim equity for their distinction and the state’s protection in maintaining and even defending it. Now however equality is being used to erase difference, destroy institutional distinction and remove proper and plural provision for different groups, faiths and organisations.
We have profound reservations about same sex marriage not just because of the harm it does to a vital heterosexual institution but also because we reject the implication that in order to be equal and respected homosexuals should conform to heterosexual norms and be in effect the same as heterosexuals. In this sense we believe same sex marriage to be homophobic – it demands recognition for gay relationships but at the price of submitting those relationships to heterosexual definition.
This serves neither homosexuals nor heterosexuals.
Why don’t you let us worry about what serves homosexuals, Mr. Scruton?
Oddly enough, Scruton wrote in 1986 that perversion was “sexual release that avoids or abolishes the other [partner]” and that homosexuality was therefore perverse, “because the body of the homosexual’s lover belongs to the same category as his own.”
How about we take this to the next level?
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He’s since disavowed that theory. Wonder how long before he disavows this one?
h/t: Boing Boing, Photo: Michael Eleftheriades
2eo
The Spectator is a right wing rag. Owned by David and Fred Barcklay, they are two of the top 5 tax avoiders in British history. On the island of Sark they paid for the local government to be taken over, with a series of murders directly connected to their coup.
They were also caught funnelling money into enemy arms companies.
What anyone associated with this rag has to say is worthless.
alexoloughlin
Exactly right, 2eo and quite frankly, nobody in the UK gives a toss about anything Scruton says. Probably a very repressed closet case himself like some of those anti equal marriage scum on the back benches.
yaoming
Everyone who knows anything knows knows Scruton’s a crank.
2eo
@alexoloughlin: Actually, funny you should mention those back benchers, a group that I know of [but am NOT part of, for the record] have acquired some very incriminating data about 3 of the top agitating politicians on this subject.
It will come out *cough* in due time. They are biding their time for the right moment to drop the crippling bombshell.
I applaud the methods, I am incapable of anything even slightly approaching hacking or cracking. Anything to kick a bigoted Tory fuck gets my vote.
RomanHans
Change the argument from gays & marriage to African-Americans & voting and it’s easy to see how much sense it makes.
hyhybt
That older quote is interesting. Avoiding your partner wouldn’t be perverse sex, but no sex at all. And abolishing him would be murder.
Levyr
Sorry Mr.Scruton, we’re not that dumb to trick.
Humanedge
@RomanHans: Exactly, or interracial marriage for that matter.
This argument is downright retarded for a myriad of reasons.For starters, no country that has allowed gay marriage in modern times has come at the cost of straight marriage.EVER. Next this guy claims that the differences between gay and straight people are nullified because gays want to marry, totally ignoring the fact basic legal rights depend on marriage, which gays are excluded from in the UK at the moment.
Oh, and the “conforming to hetero norms” is bullshit too because there have been some very old tribal cultures where gays could marry but straights couldnt, so by this jackass’s logic straight people would be conforming to gay norms. Also, what’s this crap about gay and straight people’s differences?Lets be real here, most of the differences between queers and breeders are superficial at best, but even if there are extreme differences between us, everyone has the same needs, and those needs require marriage.
This guy’s a joke,and not a funny one either.
EManhattan
Another example of why I don’t give any credence to philosophers. They build grand fantasies out of their own prejudices and crank opinions, and then declare that their fantasies are true for all humankind. Serious bullshit.