We failed to take Epsilon to Pride again this year. Last year, family was in town, and the relatives who were going to go with us bailed at the last minute. It's harder gather up the energy to take a single digit month old to a parade under those circumstances. This year my excuse is travel (I left the country the morning before). But I really want to get him very gaudy rainbow paraphernalia. More importantly, 52 years after Stonewall, there are such wonderful strides being made in this country (thank you New York) that this year's pride would have been a wonderful place to go celebrate.
Growing up in a conservative culture, in a conservative part of the country, I could not imagine when I came out that it would be legal for me to marry whoever I chose. I remember my first girlfriend and I discussing whether or not we though we would be able to marry by the time our kids would want to marry. I completely misjudged the speed with which the US has changed on this issue. It feels to me like some sort of political phase transition has occurred over the last 10 years, but that may be purely from a lack of being plugged into the heart of the movement.
A thank you to those who are working today to make this possible. Maybe next year we'll head out as a family in rainbow bandannas.
I think it's great that New York passed a same-sex marriage law, however, it's unfortunate that there are about 40 states that have laws explicitly banning it. I think the US still has a looong way to go on this issue (particularly compared to Europe!). Unfortunately, I think what will happen is that GLBTs will tend to migrate to friendly states making the unfriendly states even moreso.
ReplyDeleteNonetheless, it's definitely a reason to celebrate!
Funkdoctorx, you are right, there are a lot of states that explicitly ban gay marriage. But a lot of them are having a hard time doing it. Arizona, only got it through on the its second attempt. The referendum failed the first time through. I remember that coming as a hugely pleasant shock to me in 2006. Also, Obama has refused to defend DOMA. Presuming he doesn't loose in the next election (likely), there are 5 years for some brave set of couples to move to a state with a ban and challenge the law. A lot can happen in 5 years. A hell of a lot has happened in the last 10.
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