Gay Rights Advocates Concerns With Some Marriages

BOSTON (AP) - Some gay-rights advocates are worried that flamboyant, campy, over-the-top gay weddings could hurt their cause when the nation's first state-sanctioned same-sex weddings begin taking place in Massachusetts this week.

"Any sort of bizarre or hyper-unusual weddings will be used as a weapon against the gay community in the political battles of this upcoming year," said Arline Isaacson, co-leader of the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus. "We obviously have some concern that some media outlets may focus on the flamboyant."

On Monday, cities and towns across Massachusetts will begin accepting applications for marriage licenses for gay couples.

It will be a milestone in the battle for gay rights, but the victory could be short-lived if voters approve a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. The earliest that such an amendment could go before the voters is November 2006 - 21/2 years from now.

Advocates are worried that if the news media treat gay marriage the same way they have traditionally treated gay pride parades - with the lens focused on the most outrageous spectacles, such as leather-clad Dykes on Bikes, buttocks-flashing cowboys and drag queens - it could become even more difficult to defeat the amendment.

Several gay couples who wandered through an exposition of gay wedding services at a Cambridge hotel earlier this month said their weddings would be far from flamboyant, with some even describing their plans as "boring."

Cindy Sproul, co-owner of RainbowWeddingNetwork.com, an online wedding gift registry for gays, which organized the exposition, said gay people getting married appeared to want the same thing most heterosexuals want.

"They want to wear tuxes, they want to wear gowns, they want traditional weddings," she said. "They want the same things: a disc jockey, a florist, a caterer."

David "Dixie" Federico, a former drag queen and newly ordained minister in Provincetown, bristled at the idea that gay couples should be forced to tone it down after being denied marriage for so long. But he predicted that tradition will be the order of the day, at least in the first weeks.

"I think everyone in the beginning is going to be on their best behavior," said Federico, who manages a restaurant in Provincetown, a gay tourism hot spot at Cape Cod's tip. "But no matter what, they're going to look for the butchest women and the most effeminate men. It's the nature of the beast."

Under the Supreme Judicial Court's decision, gay couples can apply for marriage licenses beginning Monday but must wait three days to tie the knot unless a court grants them a waiver of the state's waiting period. The seven gay and lesbian couples who brought the original court challenge expect to receive waivers and plan to get married Monday.

On hand to witness the first gay nuptials in Provincetown will be news crews from England, Holland and Germany, as well as newspaper reporters and TV crews from around the country, said town tourism director Patricia Fitzpatrick.

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_np=...&u_sid=1096961

WTF?

First they fight to allow gay marriages and now they are concerned that some gay couples might want to camp it up when they do get married?

Im sorry you cant have your cake and eat it.. what next a gay marriage law making 'flamboyant' gay wedding ceremonies illegal because it suits their needs?

The more i read about these gay rights groups and what they are fighting for the more i begin to wonder if they dont have hidden agendas of their own :eek:

Regards,

Lee

funny, lee - i see what they mean.

mainstream people really believe that marriage is an extremely serious business. if they can make themselves believe that "gay people aren't taking marriage seriously", it will gain new people voting against.

if you've been to straight mainstreamer weddings, nobody seems to have fun or share any joy. when you talk to people after their weddings, they never have much fun. goodness knows why they do what they do - i once attended a pagan wedding in the woods, and it was full of joy.

most mainstreamers don't like or approve of those pagan or non traditional weddings, either - even though it is a hetero couple. in fact, they STRONGLY disapprove :-( apparently in their world, there is only one "right" way. no other cultures, attitudes, perceptions or religions need apply :-(

we have a long way to go - this is just one step.

I can see thier point also.. to a point lol

The thing that gets me is they are already trying to dictate (all be it inadvertantly) what gay couples can and cant do on their own wedding day.

A wedding is supposed to be a special occasion and if special to a couple regardless of what their sexual orientation may be includes guys o women wearing chaps then so be it who am i to say what they can and cant do on their special day lol

Regards,

Lee

lee, you really are an optimist - which is really nice.

i have known many straight couples who got married. not all, but a large percent, had the wedding their family forced on them - or that was pushed on them in some other way. most were exhausted after the wedding, and tense that some of the planning would go wrong during. they went to horrible repeated rehearsals and sent out announcements and invites that cost a fortune and didn't reflect them at all. many spent way too much money, and didn't have the music they wanted, the service they wanted - nor the clothes or food they wanted.

many couples i've known who NEVER argue argue just before the wedding, 'cause they're doing it for their families or some other body - not themselves.

have you never been to weddings like this?