This morning the news was good. The Defense of Marriage Act has been overturned, at least an important part of it. The married LGBT will now have the federal benefits of male-female couples. Proposition 8 is done for. Governor Jerry Brown already had the forms ready, so gay marriages in California will resume in 25 days.
All this week I was worried the decision might go the other way, and another decade or so would pass before the change happened. Justice Kennedy, the swing vote, made the difference. I wonder if he and Justice Sotomayer will face the wrath of their Catholic church.
A few years ago, I was visiting my cousin and his partner in Colorado. Charles asked if I would like to go to Gay Pride Day in Denver. Our first stop was at the beginning of the Gay Pride Parade where the march was being organized. We stopped to see the Boulder contingent which was a float containing LGBT teenagers. They all wanted to be on the float which left their two advisers to march in front holding the long banner. It was causing them some trouble because the wind was blowing it around.
They needed help and we didn't have anything else to do. Charles and I went to the middle, grabbed the cloth and we were on our way to march in the Gay Pride Parade. It was great fun, waving to the crowds, being part of a happy throng. The costumes were gay and colorful. Everyone was grinning and laughing. I wished I had worn better walking shoes because I knew at the parades end we would have to walk back to the car, but I didn't care if I got blisters.
The only bad part of the parade was passing by the big Catholic church where members were waving signs at us, telling us where we were headed, and they didn't mean downtown. But then a bunch of teenagers saw what was happening, stood in front of the hate signs, and began to cheer as loud as they could to drown out the awful people.
If, as the song says, we are to known Christians by their love...then Christians must learn to love and stop praying for people they don't understand to suffer the tortures of Hell.
Later that afternoon, we heard a Methodist pastor speak in favor of gay marriage. He pointed to his wife sitting on a balcony. He said they had been married 49 years and he didn't think that would change if marriage became available to everyone. That was exactly right. Since gay marriage won't change my life one iota, why should I oppose it? I always figure anyone that worries about other people's sex lives, must be missing some in their own.
Today's Supreme Court decision hasn't been perfect. There is a long way to go, of course, since only 14 of the States and the District of Columbia allow gay marriage. It will take time. Red states will resist but then Mississippi only this year officially abolished slavery. In the end even Wisconsin will finally end its homophobic ways.
History is moving in the right direction. It only needs a little prodding.
All this week I was worried the decision might go the other way, and another decade or so would pass before the change happened. Justice Kennedy, the swing vote, made the difference. I wonder if he and Justice Sotomayer will face the wrath of their Catholic church.
A few years ago, I was visiting my cousin and his partner in Colorado. Charles asked if I would like to go to Gay Pride Day in Denver. Our first stop was at the beginning of the Gay Pride Parade where the march was being organized. We stopped to see the Boulder contingent which was a float containing LGBT teenagers. They all wanted to be on the float which left their two advisers to march in front holding the long banner. It was causing them some trouble because the wind was blowing it around.
They needed help and we didn't have anything else to do. Charles and I went to the middle, grabbed the cloth and we were on our way to march in the Gay Pride Parade. It was great fun, waving to the crowds, being part of a happy throng. The costumes were gay and colorful. Everyone was grinning and laughing. I wished I had worn better walking shoes because I knew at the parades end we would have to walk back to the car, but I didn't care if I got blisters.
The only bad part of the parade was passing by the big Catholic church where members were waving signs at us, telling us where we were headed, and they didn't mean downtown. But then a bunch of teenagers saw what was happening, stood in front of the hate signs, and began to cheer as loud as they could to drown out the awful people.
If, as the song says, we are to known Christians by their love...then Christians must learn to love and stop praying for people they don't understand to suffer the tortures of Hell.
Later that afternoon, we heard a Methodist pastor speak in favor of gay marriage. He pointed to his wife sitting on a balcony. He said they had been married 49 years and he didn't think that would change if marriage became available to everyone. That was exactly right. Since gay marriage won't change my life one iota, why should I oppose it? I always figure anyone that worries about other people's sex lives, must be missing some in their own.
Today's Supreme Court decision hasn't been perfect. There is a long way to go, of course, since only 14 of the States and the District of Columbia allow gay marriage. It will take time. Red states will resist but then Mississippi only this year officially abolished slavery. In the end even Wisconsin will finally end its homophobic ways.
History is moving in the right direction. It only needs a little prodding.
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