We will take one more step, til there is legal marriage for everyone, we will take one more step."
It almost feels like we've played some hopscotch. Jump, jump, JUMP! Iowa and D.C. and Vermont.
One more step.
We had a nice dinner tonight with some extra kids at the table. Our conversation went from Arthur (the PBS show) and Buster and how the Buster show got canceled because it portrayed a family with two dads as a normal family. We talked about the changes in the world for marriage, and then we talked about some of the changes that have already taken place.
In a number of states, the year that my husband and I were born it would have been illegal for us to be married. Interracial marriage was illegal. Police in Virginia entered a couple's home, and their bedroom and arrested them. They were sentenced to jail, and told if they left the state, the sentence would be suspended for 25 years. They chose to move. On June 12th, 1967 the Loving Decision was handed down, ending all race based legal restrictions on marriage.
We celebrate Loving Day in our home on June 12th.
It was great to discuss this with a group of teenagers. That someday we'll all look back on today's decision as part of the cascade of decisions that led to final, definitive protection for legal marriage for all people.
I hope that very soon we can add another day to our holidays, we will celebrate the decision ending all gender based legal restrictions on marriage. One more step. And one more. It sure feels like we're on the way.
2 comments:
It is indeed a wonderful thing that we are making such progress. I think it's primarily our older generation (that includes mine, if not yours) that has been fearful of this change, because their views often were formed before they knew much about gays---who were afraid for their lives and livelihoods if they came out. Thank goodness for our younger generations who know better.
My daughter knows that anyone in love should be able to get married, regardless of gender, and that settles it. Yay! We celebrate this victory as a victory of justice, kindness, compassion.
However...
Her (very young) cousins are being taught that being gay is a sin punishable by God, and that marriage is a God-sanctioned union between a man and a woman, and that any same sex couple who attempts marriage is doing the Devil's work.
Ms. Kitty, I wish that the younger generation knew better. I am not convinced that is the case. I can only control my one small household, and I will stand up on the side of love....but we really do have a long way to go.
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