Gender & Sexuality Law Blog

In my last post I urged heterosexual people to do more than express their condolences to the gay community for the defeat of the marriage equality bill in the New York State Senate last week.  Well, Jamie Frevele, an avowed heterosexual woman, has gone even farther than I had imagined.  She has put her right to marry up for auction on E-bay.  As of now, she has received 20 bids and the current bid is $138.00 – but the auction will run until December 12th – so you have plenty of time to bid:

Frevele explains the auctioning of her right to marry thus:

I’m an unmarried heterosexual woman, and since I probably won’t be using my right to get married, I would like to give it away. I would like to sell it to the highest bidder and donate the proceeds to an organization that supports LGBT rights since the government designed to protect all of us is picking and choosing based on what they think is icky, weird, orunkown to them.

Bid now, and you can have my super wonderful privilege and legal ability to get married as many times as you want in a classy place like the one pictured. You don’t have to know the person, you don’t have to like them, you don’t have to think through your decision to get married or anything – you can just do it! Because you can! Come on, it’s cool to get married, and think of the pictures you’ll have to show people of this person that they will definitely think is so wrong for you and probably is! But heavens to BETSY, do NOT marry someone of the same gender because that would be a mockery of the institution of marriage.

And if it doesn’t work out, just get divorced. Half the cool people who get married do that anyway.

I will write you up a fancy, wonderful, articulate proclamation handing over my right to get married. I have no official documentation because this is something I was born with since I was born heterosexual. Unfortunately, this is only a symbolic gesture. However, since I’m picky and difficult, it’s probably something that, if a physical object, would have been considered pristine and shiny after some dusting. Your bid, on the other hand, is real, and the donation you make to an organization that supports those who have been treated as second-class citizens will be well worth it.

I have not named an organization yet because I thought I would see if anyone wanted to join me on this journey rather than drag them into something they’re not serious about, ready for, etc.

Happy Bidding!

Jamie Frevele

This is the best protest I’ve seen yet against both the exclusion of same-sex couples from the institution of marriage, and against the institution itself.

You go girl – let the bidding begin!

PS – she has selected The Point Foundation as the organization that will receive the proceeds from the highest bidder.