“The quality of light by which we scrutinize our lives has direct bearing upon the product which we live, and upon the changes which we hope to bring about through those lives.”

(Audre Lorde – Poetry Is Not A Luxury)

The time has (more than) come to reframe the narrow terms of the marriage debate in Ireland.

And so to Marie Mulholland’s critique of the current campaign for same sex marriage here.

The uninterrogated pursuit of marriage to the exclusion of any other regularisation of family forms and partnerships has left the campaign open to allegations of ‘mé feinism’ as overheard recently in one discussion. Inevitably, it has led to a surge in the adoption of at best naïve and at worst reactionary politics and conservative values in the rush to support gay marriage. Perhaps, it is timely to remember the words of Audre Lorde, ‘the masters tools will never dismantle the masters house.’

Read the full essay at Irish Left Review.