Dr. Hannah McCann, Lecturer, Gender Studies, University of Melbourne, asks should we be hopeful about the prospect of marriage equality? And, if so, what kind of hope should we adopt as our orientation? Are there certain formations of hope that shut down queer futures? Drawing on Lauren Berlant’s (2011) work on “cruel optimism” and José Esteban Muñoz’s (2009) engagement with queer utopias, McCann argues that while Berlant warns of the dangers of investing in promises for the future that lock us into a toxic present, Muñoz offers a glimpse of another world toward which we might strive. Thus, McCann opens up space for thinking queer futures within the marriage equality campaign.