Marriage Equality! Wonderful!

I'm not married, but have been in a great long-time relationship. Friends tell us that we are "more than married." There is something great about finding someone that you want to live with and share life experiences with. It's an essential social thing. Makes you oh so human. All humans should have that right, and possibility.

I was so, so exhilarated yesterday to hear that "Marriage Equality" was affirmed by the Supreme Court. Sometimes the progressive idea wins. Sometimes equality and justice for all is affirmed. And that raises us all up.

On the one hand, it seemed like marriage equality had to be the only logical, reasonable and just decision. But on the other hand, you realize it was a close vote, and it could have easily gone the other way.

I worried that 9 legal scholars in black robes would weasel out of it all, and kick it back to the States. So happy that they didn't. Anthony Kennedy wrote the majority opinion. And I totally applaud his reasoning.

I think of gay men and women who suffered from discrimination, it wasn't so long ago when "being gay" was considered a sickness, an abomination, something to hide or try to cure. Some of my favorite artists endured a long, cold social torture. I think of such wonderful, intense and gifted people like Tennessee Williams, Allen Ginsberg, Alan Turing, James Baldwin, T.H. White, etc. People who endured terrible, terrible discrimination and misunderstanding, or suffered in a closeted silence.

All those "loud and proud" gay folks from Stonewall onward have done us all a great favor. They stood up and declared they were gay and they belonged too. And slowly, but surely the culture has changed. Most of us realized we knew lots of gay people, and they were not scary, they were people just like us.

Andrew Sullivan has been an eloquent voice for many years on this topic, he had a new post about the decision here.

Yes, so yesterday was a great day. For everyone. One small, necessary step. Wonderful!