Are libertarians getting in the way of marriage equality for the LGBT community?
It’s a question so silly I can’t believe I’m even typing it. But it’s an argument Policy Director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights Maya Rupert made in her Huffington Post article: “The Myth of Libertarianism and the Fight for the LGBT Equality.”
In it, she gives kudos to the emerging libertarian strain within the conservative movement as a reason why people like Sen. Ron Portman (R-OH) have switched sides on the gay marriage debate.
But then you realize it was just a backhanded compliment.
Next she says libertarianism’s goal of maximizing freedom is “fundamentally at odds with equality for the LGBT community.” Don’t worry you’re not alone – that made me raise an eyebrow too.
She argues that maximizing freedom means we would be “left with anarchy.” To be clear, that political philosophy is called anarcho-capitalism. Not all who identify with libertarian philosophy rally to eliminate the state; many just want a limited version of it.
Rupert goes on to say, “Put another way, freedom isn’t my right to live unless someone stronger wants to kill me; it is my right to live even if someone stronger wants to kill me.”
Did she miss the non-aggression principle part of libertarianism?
But I shouldn’t make fun of Ms. Rupert. She, like many others, believes “freedom needs the existence of government” – her words, not mine. But wasn’t it government that helped create the barriers keeping the LGBT community from enjoying the same rights as others? Sure, people will make the argument that religion, and not government, planted the seed of anti-gay, discriminatory thought in the cultural lexicon. But think about it. It’s lawmakers who’ve enacted by law an anti-gay agenda. Don’t forget that the Defense of Marriage Act was created by the government.
How’s that for government protecting your freedom?