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Yesterday the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) handed down a decision that allows for marriage equality in the US. It's not straight marriage or gay marriage anymore, it is just Marriage.
A number of years ago, when the marriage equality debate started in earnest, I told you about two friends of mine who had been together at the time for over 20 years and their steamer trunk that they have had to haul around for most of that time to make sure they could do things for each others that I got the moment Peter and I got our wedding license. I told you about another friend who couldn’t see her partner of 30 years in the hospital because the family barred her and she wasn’t considered, legally, anything more than a roommate. The legal hoops that had to be gone through to make sure that two adults could be in each other’s lives was amazingly wrong.
I was less than a year old when the Civil Rights Act was signed into law. I was four when anti-miscegenation where declared unconstitutional. I have a hazy memory of that because it was a big deal at the time on the news and the like. Now it is not a big deal in most parts of the country when two people of different skin tones get married.
And in ten years or less, this will not be a big deal either. Most of the US has said that they don’t have a problem with it. Most children Caroline’s age really don’t have a problem with it or someone declaring they are gay either.
The first marriage gay couple Caroline met was George and Brad Takei. She was five or six at the time. We introduced them to Caroline and she said ‘men can marry men and women can marry women?’ We told her in some states, yes. Her reaction was acceptance and what she wanted for lunch. After that, in her world, marriage was marriage and if two adults loved each other very much, why shouldn’t they get married?
I am very happy for my friends who no longer have to worry about bringing the marriage license along when they travel in the US. Of wondering if they are still married when they go from state to state. Of wondering if something happened to their spouse while on vacation in a state that didn’t recognize their union, would they be able to even see their loved one.
There was a time that Peter and I couldn’t have gotten married. A Catholic and a Jew getting married use to not be allowed or it was severally frowned upon. It just wasn’t done. But our religion never came up when we went to get our marriage license, which is as it should be.
And now one’s gender shouldn’t come up when applying for a marriage license, which is also as it should be.
I am grateful that marriage equality is the law of the land.
A number of years ago, when the marriage equality debate started in earnest, I told you about two friends of mine who had been together at the time for over 20 years and their steamer trunk that they have had to haul around for most of that time to make sure they could do things for each others that I got the moment Peter and I got our wedding license. I told you about another friend who couldn’t see her partner of 30 years in the hospital because the family barred her and she wasn’t considered, legally, anything more than a roommate. The legal hoops that had to be gone through to make sure that two adults could be in each other’s lives was amazingly wrong.
I was less than a year old when the Civil Rights Act was signed into law. I was four when anti-miscegenation where declared unconstitutional. I have a hazy memory of that because it was a big deal at the time on the news and the like. Now it is not a big deal in most parts of the country when two people of different skin tones get married.
And in ten years or less, this will not be a big deal either. Most of the US has said that they don’t have a problem with it. Most children Caroline’s age really don’t have a problem with it or someone declaring they are gay either.
The first marriage gay couple Caroline met was George and Brad Takei. She was five or six at the time. We introduced them to Caroline and she said ‘men can marry men and women can marry women?’ We told her in some states, yes. Her reaction was acceptance and what she wanted for lunch. After that, in her world, marriage was marriage and if two adults loved each other very much, why shouldn’t they get married?
I am very happy for my friends who no longer have to worry about bringing the marriage license along when they travel in the US. Of wondering if they are still married when they go from state to state. Of wondering if something happened to their spouse while on vacation in a state that didn’t recognize their union, would they be able to even see their loved one.
There was a time that Peter and I couldn’t have gotten married. A Catholic and a Jew getting married use to not be allowed or it was severally frowned upon. It just wasn’t done. But our religion never came up when we went to get our marriage license, which is as it should be.
And now one’s gender shouldn’t come up when applying for a marriage license, which is also as it should be.
I am grateful that marriage equality is the law of the land.
