It makes perfect, logical sense that allowing gay marriage is “the right thing to do.” Aren’t you sick of talking about it? The arguments are clear—the term “marriage” should evolve with society, there should be separation of church and state, gay people should have the right to pursue happiness and gay couples should have the same benefits as straight couples. So why should Macalester students keep talking about an issue such as this? What good is all this talk about gay marriage anyway?

The “socio” in sociopolitical change:

The idea of gay marriage poses a threat to many people’s core belief systems. Threat to people’s ideologies produces emotional reactions that fuel discussion. Emotion-filled discussion of this sort, especially in the case of an issue like gay marriage, is an excellent thing for society. Citizens are being made to question their belief systems through talk about this issue—“cubicle talk” at work, talk among friends and family, talk in the media or even “self-talk” and reflection.

What’s more is that this talk reverberates through social networks. When I talk to my parents in a small town in Wisconsin about the issue, they might challenge a friend’s thinking about the issue, who might be moved to bring the issue up at the dinner table, which might move their child to talk about the issue with friends at school, who might mention the debate to a teacher, who might write an article in the newspaper about the subject, which might promote self-talk in many of its readers and the cycle continues.

The speed and frequency at which these “talk networks” are discussing this issue is incredible. For example, Google gives around 2.7 million results for a search on “gay marriage,” compared to 1.8 million results for a search on “war on terrorism.” It is highly plausible that these gay marriage talk networks are currently a major source of positive long-term social change for the queer movement. For lack of space to expound on and describe the process, the goal is to let people continue to debate this issue until their beliefs clash against higher reasoning with sufficient contradiction to motivate a change in beliefs. Political decisions on gay marriage may have very important and beneficial long-term societal repercussions, but the most important thing right now for the queer movement—and our society—is this talk.

The “political” in sociopolitical change:

These talk networks are also highly active and present in the political arena where government officials carry on their discussions. These officials are talking about their personal belief systems, as well as “the belief system,” or ideology, of the government as a whole. Their talk happens with different rules and procedures for discussion, but the process and outcomes are somewhat similar. It is important to realize that talk networks in the political arena are also influenced by talk networks in the social arena—and vice versa.

We, as social activists, need to continue to keep these talk networks alive on gay marriage and other important issues. Our discussions provide input to them, and we never know what “paths” our discussions may take, or what “nodes” they may reach. Our goal as political activists is to effectively bridge social talk networks with political talk networks. We, as queer folk, need to be empathetic to such discussion and continue to grow as strong, loving individuals, as it is often the positive roles we play in others’ lives that motivates them to be receptive to such talk and question their intimate belief systems, or even to stick up for us and be the ones who start the talk.

What a powerful question for our society and government to be talking about—why is two people’s love unrecognized socially, constitutionally and religiously for the sole reason that they are of the same sex? Our society’s conscious and unconscious beliefs about queer people form the deepest roots of queer social problems, and talk about such a powerful question is having an important effect on these roots.

Side note: Speaking of important talk, where did the social science courses from Communication Studies go? Case in point—they’re important!