On Thursday afternoon, the Employment Nondiscrimination Act (or ENDA) was passed by the United States Senate. The largest, most specific piece of legislation regarding the protection of LGBTQ people in this country was passed by a federal legislative voting body. But you probably wouldn’t know that just by following national media outlets, who barely made a peep about this historic victory.
Let’s do some word association. What pops into your mind when you read the word “equality”? How about when you read the words “LGBTQ rights”? If LGBTQ lobbyist groups are doing their jobs, then what comes to the mind of the typical US citizen is the fight for the legalization of same-sex marriage. Indeed, the media has essentialized LGBTQ rights to be synonymous with marriage equality, with the majority of LGBTQ national news coverage being solely devoted to marriage. It’s a small miracle if a story about LGBTQ adoption rights sneaks onto the airwaves.
It’s not hard to see why marriage is such an attractive issue for agenda setters. For one thing, it’s easily quantifiable. Just this past week, Illinois and Hawaii became the 15th and 16th states to legalize same-sex marriage, respectively. Over 41 percent of people in the United States now live in a state where same-sex marriage is legal. Those are sexy numbers to throw around in press releases and television ads.
Another reason marriage dominates the national conversation is that the people in same-sex relationships with the ability to get married often have just that: the ability to get married and the privilege that inherently comes with that ability. The same cannot often be said for LGBTQ people who experience employment discrimination, are barred from renting apartments, have trouble finding safe health care or are cut off financially and emotionally from their families. Happy, financially secure LGBTQ couples getting married is a much prettier picture.
The problem with painting LGBTQ issues with such a wide brush is that it allows the media and, by proxy, the general public, to avoid implicating themselves in LGBTQ oppression. Marriage equality lies in the hands of state legislatures and judicial systems. For many, supporting marriage equality means a bumper sticker and a Facebook status. The minimum contribution for ending transphobia in the nation’s homeless programs, for example, calls for much more tangible action.
I’m in no way saying that marriage equality isn’t important. To the contrary, it has tremendous importance. Marriage offers couples over 1,100 federal provisions and benefits, including estate protection and hospital visitation rights. LGBTQ families deserve every right and consideration given to every other family. But to allow marriage equality to monopolize the conversation on LGBTQ liberation is to erase the fundamental rights and safety of millions of LGBTQ people for whom marriage is either not on the radar or not even an option.
ENDA will soon be voted on by the U.S. House of Representatives. I confess myself fairly pessimistic about its chances of being passed in the House, given the partisan bickering we’ve come to expect from that group. But at the very least, I hope the media coverage surrounding ENDA is comprehensive and gives proper credence to this important issue. And I hope we all take a moment to realize that our red equal sign profile pictures mean so much more than we may think.
Noah Cannon is a junior majoring in telecommunication and film. His column runs biweekly on Mondays.
