According to my Twitter feed, Henry Rollins "nailed it" when speaking about marriage equality on The Project.
In an appearance on the Channel Ten program on Tuesday, the American performer urged Australia to get with it. "This marriage inequality flap you're having is below your country; it is below your conversation," said the former Black Flag member, currently touring Australia.
"You should just ... let two men get married. You'll wake up tomorrow morning, everything will be fine. You keep on going.
"This is really below the intellectual quotient of the conversation that Australia should be having, now and forever. It really is below you. It makes you look bad.
"In my country, hating two men getting married makes them look bad. You should squash it and move on as fast as you can."
Social media lit up with praise. Which is no surprise. Rollins articulated the popular position, as reflected in every recent opinion poll.
Australians want marriage equality. The reasons we don't have it yet have been well-articulated, and don't bear repeating here.
But for my money, Rollins actually "nailed it" when speaking about another topic entirely: gun control.
"We should be looking at the mental health of our citizens more closely," he said, claiming that if America removed half its firearms, they'd still have an average of one gun per person.
"I think we just need to look after one another better," Rollins added.
"You have to go deeper and lift the heavier weight – and that would be social welfare; looking after one another."
He's right. And his words apply not only to guns, but gay issues, too.
This is why we need to get marriage equality done and dusted. Because a) it's the decent thing to do, and b) it's drowning out every other gay rights concern.
Equality proponents point out – correctly – that LGBTQ youth are at greater risk of depression, substance abuse, self-harm, suicide (and homelessness, most likely).
The right to marry won't magically fix these things. Only a properly funded mental-health system – and public healthcare more broadly – can begin to address them.
There's little point in our government helping "raise awareness" of mental heath issues while also cutting subsidised therapy sessions. You know what really helps an "at risk" gay kid? An actual psychologist. Too bad it's now harder to get sustained treatment from one, especially if you don't have a lot of money.
Whether or not I'd choose gay marriage myself is irrelevant; any law that discriminates on the basis of sexuality is plainly idiotic and has to go. And in fairness to Rollins, he was asked only about marriage equality on The Project. But that's kinda the point. These days, marriage equality overshadows other gay issues.
I understand the powerful symbolism of equality. To some, this means the world. When same-sex marriage finally becomes law in Australia, it will look much like it did in the US, Ireland and elsewhere. Scenes of joy, tears, kissing, dancing. Who could begrudge that?
But this is not the "final frontier" of the gay rights battle.
After the first couple weds – indeed, after the 1000th same-sex union – we'll still have way too many "at risk" queer kids.
Being fully equal in the eyes of the law might help; I'm not underestimating this. But affordable medication? Ongoing access to a psychologist? That's really worth fighting for.
