Eat, Pray, Love, Gay Marriage

by Michael Jones · 2010-01-05 08:05:00 UTC
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Eat Pray LoveEat, Pray, Love is the national bestseller that chronicles the around-the-world travels of a woman trying to get over her recent divorce. Written by Elizabeth Gilbert, the book is a memoir of the trials and tribulations that Gilbert faced in the wake of having to get over the loss of her marriage. It's the story of Gilbert's rediscovery, found in food, spirituality, and reconnecting with that four-letter word that drives us all crazy -- love.

Six million people have read Eat, Pray, Love, making Gilbert a de facto expert on the issue of marriage and divorce. Clearly Gilbert has a lot to say on the subject. But what does she think about gay marriage?

To hear her tell it, Gilbert thinks that gay marriage might just save the entire institution of marriage itself. Which proves two things: one, the gays can save anything, and two, there's nothing to fear regarding marriage equality.

Gilbert talks about her thoughts on same-sex marriage with TIME magazine this week. The only path to success for the institution of marriage, according to Gilbert, is inclusion. And that means including gay and lesbian couples.

"[Gay marriage would] make marriage relevant again," says Gilbert. "A lot of heterosexual couples are reluctant to get married because there's a sense of, 'Why should I have access to this when my friends who have been together just as long as me don't?' It starts to make marriage look like a country club. Almost the only way that marriage can continue to mean something in any sort of real way is if it gets more inclusive."

Maybe Gilbert has tapped into something. After all, the state with the lowest divorce rate in the entire country happens to be Massachusetts -- the state that first legalized gay marriage nearly six years ago. Meanwhile, some of the states with the highest divorce rates on record are states that have banned gay marriage. Coincidence?

Probably not. After all, what in history has exclusion saved?

(Photo courtesy of mzarzar's photostream on Flickr)

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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