Marriage Equality is NOT the end

When I came out as queer, I had a very limited out look on what was important to the LGBTQ community. My privilege of being a white, cisgender person, combined with the media's insane focus on the queer community as this group of people that are just being denied one right: marriage, made me believe that marriage equality was all my community needed. Look anywhere, the rainbow commercials, the celebrities speaking out about passing marriage equality, all the legislation being talked about is if two individuals are allowed to sign a contract to each other. People outside of the community, and some that are in it, still believe that's all we're being denied, all we're fighting for. By focusing merely on marriage equality for same sex couples, we are constantly ignoring other, equally or more, pressing issues for the LGBTQ community. Health care being denied, separation of families based on queer identities, LGBTQ homeless youth, and work place discrimination, sometimes leading to being fired based on gender identity/expression or sexual orientation are just a few examples. There is more to the queer community than a bunch of gay individuals wanting to marry each other, by focusing on this issue, we're dismissing far more serious, even life-threatening problems. This focus does not leave room for discussion on issues for the trans community, people of color, or basically anyone that doesn't look marketable enough for the general public to handle. Dean Spade and Craig Willse, although their article was controversial, got it right on many different levels. Marriage will not set the queer community free, the issues are much deeper than that, and effect more people than just people who can't get married.