Word by Zoe Lyons
March the 29th marks an important date in British history. From that day onwards same sex couples will be allowed to legally marry in England and Wales. Campaigners fought long and hard to make this a reality and I am both extremely lucky and somewhat proud to live in a country where the rights of gay people, like myself, are acknowledged and upheld.
Of course there were those that were vehemently against the idea and spouted all sorts of fire and brimstone rhetoric about how allowing gays to marry would lead to the crumbling of society and ultimately the end of the world as we know it. As a comedian, I have to be honest, I delight in the constant stream of material these people provide me with.
There is something almost medieval about some of the religious arguments against same sex marriage that fascinates me. I am absolutely not knocking religion. I am an atheist myself but I am able to see and understand the importance that faith has for some people and the potential for good that can come out of such beliefs. But when we are presented with the likes of David Silvester, the UKIP councillor who claimed floods earlier this year in Britain were the result of God’s anger with Cameron for legalising same sex marriages then I am afraid I find it very difficult not to rejoice in the absurdity of it. Remarks like his are the debating equivalent of standing on a table and letting rip a massive bilious bum burp during an etiquette class. Silvester is of course an extreme case and indeed it would actually make more sense to me if the floods were a demonstration of Gods dislike of UKIP!
Others have tried to argue that allowing gay marriage would devalue the concept of marriage. I simply never understand this idea at all. If two homosexuals committed to each other, who you have never even met, could somehow devalue your marriage, then your marriage was on pretty shaky ground in the first place. Besides, marriage is already devalued all the time, those that marry for money, out of spite or even boredom and there are plenty of celebrities out there who treat marriage as a media grabbing career leg up. Tie the knot in May and divorce a few months later after the pictures have come out in Hello Magazine before moving on to the next social elevator yet we never hear calls for these vacuous “lime light” hunters to be barred from marrying do we.
So what can we expect at the end of the month when the new law comes into force on the 29th March? Well, most people wont even notice the passing of the date. The earth will continue to spin on its axis, the birds will continue to chirp in the trees. There will, no doubt, be periods of heavy rain and droughts again in the future but it will have absolutely nothing to do with two people who love each other being allowed equal rights. The world shall carry on as it always has except that a few more people will have the joy of saying ” I do”. Many happy returns to all those who intend to wed this year. Love is a marvellous thing.
Zoe hosts Bent Double comedy night the first Sunday of every month at Brighton Komedia.
Follow Zoe on Twitter @zoelyons