Marriage equality has swept the US finally, after a very long struggle, and some painful set backs in which states tried constitutionally banning the right for same sex couples to marry, or allowed marriage for all of two seconds and then unmarried people who were pretty sure they were totally married, the SCOTUS has finally gotten on board, realized what year it is and come to the party to settle the issue once and for all.
There is no doubt in my mind that future generations will look back on the era when marriage was reserved for male/female couples with the same kind of horror we now do when contemplating things like apartheid. And though the world often seems like a dark, weird place with horrible people doing horrible things, today it got a little better for everyone. Not just for gay and lesbian people, but for everyone.
We can’t truly love if we’re denying that same love to others. We can’t be equal if some are less equal. We can’t wander around patting ourselves on the back for being super advanced and civilized when we’re allowing an underclass based on nothing more than sexuality to suffer next to us.
This is a great day. It’s also a day that came far, far too late for so many people. And there is something bittersweet about it, because even though that particular battle is won, it’s a battle that should never have to have been fought. And the fates and lives of so many hundreds of thousands of people should never have been in the hands of legislators, politicians or even ultimately nine people in black robes.
While we haven’t ascended into an egalitarian utopia without nonsense authority figures sticking their fingers into people’s private lives (that’s not scheduled until May of 2025), at least the regime has come to the party with a positive decision for once.
Congratulations to all those in the USA who fought so hard for so long, you deserve this. You always deserved it. And I am so, so glad you have it.