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Entry tags:
historic moment
I was always certain that I would see legal same-sex marriage in my lifetime. And here it is. It's not quite the moment of triumph I thought it would be, because of the cloud of the possible 2006 constitutional amendment. But regardless, nothing can take away the fact that these people are married now. It's such a beautiful thing.
I'm not reacting with the visceral joy and excitement that I did to San Francisco's same-sex marriage weekend. That was amazing -- the line that stretched around City Hall, the pages and pages of wedding photos. If only I had known at the time that my aunt and her partner of 28 years, now wife of three months, were in that line, my happiness would have been complete. We drove past the building to get somewhere on one of those days, I think Sunday, and I just wanted to get out of the car and hug every single person in that line, I was so happy for them. It's not the triumph for the issue that Massachusetts is, because the legality of the SF licenses are in question but the MA licenses are definitely valid. (A surprising, but somewhat heartening, quote from an MA anti-gay marriage activist, criticizing the protests at Boston City Hall: "What's going on down there is legal, and as far as I'm concerned, give those people their happiness for the day.") But they were the first performed with the legal blessing of the county, and that's something special. There's also the surprise of it -- all I had heard was that Mayor Newsom had given his people instructions to look into the possibility, and all of a sudden here's pictures of the first same-sex marriage. It was unexpected and exciting. Massachusetts has been building up to this day for months, so getting to today is almost more of a relief than anything else.
But any way you look at it, it's still a victory. A huge victory. Now people can finally challange that damnamble "Defense of Marriage Act" with unquestionably valid marriage licenses in hand. Approximately 10 years ago, I predicted that gay marriage would be legal across the US within 15 years. I still don't know if we're on track for that timeline, but wouldn't it be beautiful if we are.
I'm not reacting with the visceral joy and excitement that I did to San Francisco's same-sex marriage weekend. That was amazing -- the line that stretched around City Hall, the pages and pages of wedding photos. If only I had known at the time that my aunt and her partner of 28 years, now wife of three months, were in that line, my happiness would have been complete. We drove past the building to get somewhere on one of those days, I think Sunday, and I just wanted to get out of the car and hug every single person in that line, I was so happy for them. It's not the triumph for the issue that Massachusetts is, because the legality of the SF licenses are in question but the MA licenses are definitely valid. (A surprising, but somewhat heartening, quote from an MA anti-gay marriage activist, criticizing the protests at Boston City Hall: "What's going on down there is legal, and as far as I'm concerned, give those people their happiness for the day.") But they were the first performed with the legal blessing of the county, and that's something special. There's also the surprise of it -- all I had heard was that Mayor Newsom had given his people instructions to look into the possibility, and all of a sudden here's pictures of the first same-sex marriage. It was unexpected and exciting. Massachusetts has been building up to this day for months, so getting to today is almost more of a relief than anything else.
But any way you look at it, it's still a victory. A huge victory. Now people can finally challange that damnamble "Defense of Marriage Act" with unquestionably valid marriage licenses in hand. Approximately 10 years ago, I predicted that gay marriage would be legal across the US within 15 years. I still don't know if we're on track for that timeline, but wouldn't it be beautiful if we are.