Should an anarchist support state-recognized gay marriage?
I have had two recent discussions with anarchists who believe that it is a violation of anarchist principles to support state-recognized marriage by gays. Let’s stipulate the following:
(1) An organization with a monopoly on coercion should not exist.
(2) It current does.
(3) The effect of state-recognized marriage is to reduce taxes and other state aggression against gays who apply for marriage certificates, while not benefiting those who don’t.
In general, I think we should support reduced aggression against anyone, and that speaking out on state laws is a legitimate strategy. Those who maintain a consistent public silence on all laws that increase or decrease aggression have an obvious answer, but most of us DO speak out on government laws, and do choose to support some legal changes that reduce aggression, so we need to decide if supporting this change is strategically wise. I think so, other anarchists do not, and I’m interested in the reasoning on both sides.
I think a similar issue is coming up soon, as proposals to legalize, tax, and regulate marijuana sales are bound to be in our near future. Even if it purely legalized marijuana sales, it wouldn’t legalize other drugs. Should anarchist support or oppose reforms in the correct direction, and why or why not?
In my view, supporting reduced aggression now is a no-brainer. Favoring higher aggression now in order to hasten the day of an anarchist society is, to me, a violation of anarchist principles, because it means supporting aggression to get to a non-aggressive society.
