Vol. 74/No. 35      September 20, 2010

Both sides of the case presented their arguments in terms of supporting the institutions of marriage and family as a force for “social stability.” But this approach does not serve the interests of the exploited and oppressed; workers do not have an interest in helping preserve the stability of capitalist rule. We do have a stake in getting rid of laws that allow the state to interfere in people’s personal lives.

The family rose alongside the development of class society as an economic institution designed to perpetuate social systems in which those who owned property exploited the labor of those who did not.

Women, equals with men in pre-class society, became the private property of men and economically dependent on them. The marriage contract arose as a property arrangement.

The family system today continues to be a pillar of class rule, institutionalizing social inequality. Under capitalism, the working-class family functions as a social mechanism that reproduces human beings who can create surplus value for the propertied rich. To the degree possible, the capitalists foist upon individual working-class families—especially under the depression conditions of today—the burden of feeding, clothing, and caring for the young, old, and infirm rather than these being a social responsibility.

As vital as it is to maintaining the social relations for stable capitalist rule, the family is disintegrating. That didn’t start with gay marriage, as supporters of Proposition 8 contend. While the legalization of same-sex marriage further undermines the traditional family concept, the institution began to disintegrate with the rise of industrial capitalism and the drawing of women into the labor force as a more exploitable layer of workers.

Women now comprise about 47 percent of workers in the United States. Achieving greater economic independence has raised women’s self-confidence and their ability to walk away from marriages or relationships they do not want to continue. The “biological” family—the man and woman who conceived a child or children together and continue living together—is less and less the norm. In 2007 more than 39 percent of births were to unmarried women.

The workings of capitalism itself are tearing apart the family institution at the same time that the ruling class attempts to foist greater social and economic burdens on the family unit.

As this proceeds, who is the capitalist government to say who one can or cannot marry? No to discrimination against gays and lesbians! No to government intrusion into our private lives!
 
 
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California: Court voids antigay nuptial law  
 
 
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