It's Finally Here: Equality for Marriage

[TheMusician]

I've just gotten a call from a long-distance friend who heard that yes, the Supreme Court ruled Same-sex marriage legal and constitutional in every state in our Union. I'd love to hear all of your thoughts, feelings, etc on this subject. Personally, since I have several friends who are part of the LGBT community, this is a huge victory. I actually just got off of skype with a very close friend who spent an hour hugging her girlfriend and crying.

So like I said, let me know what you think about this. Do you think it should have been done sooner? Do you think the timing was rather fair? Do you think they should have taken more time to make the decision? Let me know what you feel and think about this ruling.

[Lux12]

I'm honestly happy this happened, but what worries me is that there are people who may consider the sign that society is now truly equal. As far as symbolic victories this isn't half bad, but there is still so much work that needs to be done to secure true equality in this country. Not just LGBTQIA people, but P.O.C.s, women, and people who embody more than one marginalized identity. We cannot say this is the end when trans* people of color are getting butchered in the streets. We cannot say it's done when the pay gap between men and women is still a reality. We cannot say that true equality of all people in this country has been achieved when we have still have instances of homophobia. Nor can can we say true equality has been achieved here, or anywhere else when all these instances of anti-black violence are still coming to light. I am glad this has happened, but we cannot truly say we have achieved full equality in this nation for all groups of people when there is still so much work to be done. The rabbit hole of oppression no matter what form it takes goes deeper than we would like to imagine. It is a nightmare centuries in the making that cannot be undone over night.

[Oniya]

This is true.  It's not the end of the fight, but it is a major victory.

[Inkidu]

I wonder what politicians will complain about now, because very rarely is supreme court decision overturned (in point of fact it can't actually be overturned, they're the highest court in the nation... they just kind of change their minds).

While gay rights is important I feel politicians on both sides have been focusing on it in order to avoid working on other issues. Still, it's fantastic news.

[Lustful Bride]

I wonder what politicians will complain about now, because very rarely is supreme court decision overturned (in point of fact it can't actually be overturned, they're the highest court in the nation... they just kind of change their minds).

While gay rights is important I feel politicians on both sides have been focusing on it in order to avoid working on other issues. Still, it's fantastic news.

They will complain about whatever will get them in office and get their constituency to blindly follow them. Im glad im not the only one who thought they were plugging their ears on Gay rights just to that they didn't have to work on other big issues and could use it as an excuse.

[blue bunny sparkle]

I was ecstatic to hear the news!

And yes, there are a million things wrong with the world that need addressing. But this wasn't just another state saying okay, let's allow it. It was the Supreme Court saying... its allowable in ALL the states. And that is something I never thought I'd see. And I'm so very glad.

So for me, for today, I will not look to the next issue yet. Today I will celebrate this!

[Aethereal]

      I've not read the legal works yet, so I can't say whether there are any vague points (I am not too fond of my own country's legal works on that matter, just because it's a bit badly worded and feels ... rushed, in the lack of a better term), but overall it's good news. The world isn't entirely equal - and perhaps it will never fully be -, but that's certainly a step in the right direction. There is no objective reason to bar anyone from making their state of being together more official (especially with hospitals and such sometimes disregarding LPA's)...

[Cycle]

I get the sense that 10 years from now, I will look back at this point in time and see just how important today is--not just for the LGBTQ community, but for the United States as a whole.

President Obama is right.  Today, we should be proud.

We did the right thing.

[Sara Nilsson]

For me, it is funny coming from a country where gay marriage is .. really no big deal. The Swedish Church is ok with letting gays and lesbians marry, they wont force an individual priest to do the ceremony if they feel uncomfortable with it but they will supply one that is. In fact they must do so according to the Swedish law. But it is super rare for a priest to say that they wont marry anyone. And as far as I know, I haven't been home in a few years but Sweden hasn't been turned into pedo heaven where men marry their horses yet. so.. *shrugs*

When I saw the news today I cheered loudly! I am still a bit at a loss for words about how wonderful it is, we still have a long way to go yes but I think today we all deserve to stand up and be proud. Personally as a bisexual woman while I am happily married to my husband it is nice to know should the worst happen (I really hope not) but i now have more options if I so wish.

And it has been so nice to see all the tears from some people, specially the.. I am moving to Canada now.. I laughed when I saw that started to trend on twitter, shows how out of touch the haters are when they don't even realize it has been legal in Canada for 10 years. *giggles*

today.. we party! Tomorrow we continue our struggle, still many states where you can discriminate against gays and lesbians and I know I MUST keep fighting for my transgender brothers and sisters out there who still struggle.

[Oniya]

And it has been so nice to see all the tears from some people, specially the.. I am moving to Canada now.. I laughed when I saw that started to trend on twitter, shows how out of touch the haters are when they don't even realize it has been legal in Canada for 10 years. *giggles*

Little Oni just showed me those postings about an hour ago.  XD  (I also heard her listening to a YouTube video on the topic of gender identity.)

today.. we party! Tomorrow we continue our struggle, still many states where you can discriminate against gays and lesbians and I know I MUST keep fighting for my transgender brothers and sisters out there who still struggle.

So this.  And after all the years of struggle, a day of partying is definitely needed.

[DiscoveringEzra]

Both happy and sad/ angry at the moment.

Happy because were finally makeing progress after years of going down a perpetual black hole or hell. Happy that Lgbtq can finally get the rights and benefits of being married, including myself.

But Sad and a bit angry that my family thinks this a time for prayer, and that "God" didnt ask for this.  Yada yada, Sodom and Gammorah, so on and so on Amen. Im just baffled that a person can be outraged over people getting married ,yet you hear about civilians getting murdered in the middle east by The United States of America  and not bat an eyelash. No prayers for the grandmother picking vegetables, but prayers all around to overturn a ruling for people who love them...

I want my mom (who is pretty much my bestfriend) explain to me when ever I get married why she won't attend and do it to my face. But then again she doesn't really know me truly. )

Disheartening actually.  But im proud of the Supreme court for not being wusses and backing out or flip flopping  like most politicians  (Justice Scalia anyone?)

[Jag]

I'm very happy for this today. Despite some of the badness on my facebook feed about it (from both my LGBTQ and Non-LGBTQ friends/family)...I'm happy about it. It's an amazing step that I hope will mark the beginning of more and better changes in my country.

However, some friends and I were discussing in my fet group which state would be the first to try to fight it. The answer came fairly quick.

Bobby Jindal administration says Louisiana won't recognize gay marriage yet...

I like that it says 'yet'. They know they don't have a choice, but instead of acting like...you know...adults, they are choosing to behave like children. *eyeroll*

Anyway...like I said before, today marks what I hope will be the first of many great changes.

[Caela]

As someone that has a number of friends in the LGBTQ community, I was thrilled when this started filtering into my FB feed today! I wanted to dance and hug everyone! I had wondered if the Justices would try and waffle around the ban and try to say that the States could still ban marriage equality but would have to recognize marriages from other states where it was legal. That they just completely struck them down entirely made me grin like a fool!

Can't wait for some of my friends to start planning their weddings!

[Cycle]

I love this image.

[Ebb]

I'm very happy for this today. Despite some of the badness on my facebook feed about it (from both my LGBTQ and Non-LGBTQ friends/family)...I'm happy about it. It's an amazing step that I hope will mark the beginning of more and better changes in my country.

However, some friends and I were discussing in my fet group which state would be the first to try to fight it. The answer came fairly quick.

Bobby Jindal administration says Louisiana won't recognize gay marriage yet...

I like that it says 'yet'. They know they don't have a choice, but instead of acting like...you know...adults, they are choosing to behave like children. *eyeroll*

Anyway...like I said before, today marks what I hope will be the first of many great changes.

Bobby Jindal is running for president in a crowded field of Republicans while bringing almost no distinguishing qualities or even a high approval rating in his home state. Also, he is a goddamn fool. He's going to say or do anything he can to try to edge up to the level of being an also-ran in hopes that his endorsement of a more feasible candidate might earn him a place in a potential Republican administration, so he can get the hell out of Louisiana.

Also, he is a goddamn fool. Fuck that guy.

[Oniya]

Bobby Jindal is hinting that one of the things he'd do as a President is eliminate the SCOTUS.  Pretty sure that would fall afoul of 'upholding the Constitution', as that is provided for in Article III (not the Third Amendment - this predates the Bill of Rights.)

[Cycle]

Bobby Jindal is hinting that one of the things he'd do as a President is eliminate the SCOTUS.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

Awesome.

Go, Bobby, go.  You keep on pushing your way into the Republican Primary.  I hope you win, buddy.  Really, I do.  I am completely serious here.  You, the Republican Nominee.  Perfect.

[Bloodied Porcelain]

I was there when they gave the ruling today. Surrounded by a ton of people I didn't know (and only a few I did). I posted this to facebook earlier when I finally managed to find words for how I felt on the day's events. It's not nearly enough to describe everything I felt and experienced, but it's the most succinct way I can put how I am (still) processing.

I know I've made my feelings on today's announcement clear already, but I wanted to say... I am deeply pleased to have been a part of what took place in DC today. I wasn't planning on going up there, but friends called and said they'd driven nearly four states to be there, so I raced up after dropping my son off at camp today. I'm extremely glad I did. It was a beautiful, emotional, intense moment. I've never felt such a huge swell of hope and joy and love all around me all at once like that before. It took me all day just to be able to breathe enough to put my thoughts on the day in order. I hugged strangers today. I held hands with people I didn't know and I saw two long time friends that have been waiting to be able to marry since before I met them almost ten years ago embrace each other and let out a breath of relief and look to the sky with light and hope in their eyes.

Today I am proud of my country. Today I am hopeful for our future. Today I have faith that the bigotry and closed mindedness that has dominated our laws and our culture in the past will soon be just that... the past.

To my fellow LGBT community members, I'm proud and happy for us. We have reason to celebrate. I'm looking forward to all the weddings I hope I get invited to.

To our straight allies: Thank you. This wouldn't have happened without your steadfast love and support. I would hug every last one of you hard if you were with me right now. I might end up doing just that if I run in to you in the coming weeks. You'll never really understand how much everything you all have done means.

[Oniya]

So, I just ended up defriending someone on Facebook.  On a day when most of my feed is celebrating love, this person - with whom I had never had a cross word - pops up with Leviticus 18:22 - and a 'Let's make this go viral' prayer that our country will heed God's will.  Now, I've got no beef with someone being Christian, Catholic, Protestant, whatever.  But the 'pick-and-choosy' folks (that, by the way, completely ignore the Second Covenant and various other bits of the New Testament when it's convenient for them), can make me irrationally peevish.  Probably doesn't help that I actually took a Biblical Studies course in college, and discussed things in the historical context of what the Eastern Mediterranean region was like during the times of Ramses, and through the first century C.E.  So.  Not only was there a defriending, but I posted a warning to anyone else on my feed that might be tempted to get pissy about something that probably won't impact them directly.

I'm waiting for the first person to respond as to why they shouldn't be confined to the house for 7 days out of the month.

[Hades]

There have been times over the past several years when I look at what my country is doing and I wonder just how the hell its ever going to get back on the right track again.  But every so often, there's little pockets of light that shines through and makes me proud to be an American.

No longer will my uncle and his partner of 30 years be treated as second class citizens simply because of who they love.  They traveled to another state to get married a few years ago but now the state where they live will have to honor that marriage just like they would a man and a woman moving across the state borders.  No longer will my friends offline and that I have made here on E, be put in a position of having the state insult their intelligence by dangling the carrot of a civil union in front of them in hopes it distracts them with its shiny "separate but equal" shininess of lies. 

Or in my own life, it means that as a bisexual I don't have to worry that in the future if I find that the person I want to marry and grow old with is another man that the state won't view that union as any less valid simply because of who my heart has given itself to.

There is a long road left to travel yet for true equality in this country, as others have said already.  But every road has a starting point in its journey, and this part of the trip is worth celebrating to the fullest.  To paraphrase a familiar phrase:   Tonight we eat, drink and be merry; for tomorrow we resume the fight.

[gaggedLouise]

Bobby Jindal is hinting that one of the things he'd do as a President is eliminate the SCOTUS.  Pretty sure that would fall afoul of 'upholding the Constitution', as that is provided for in Article III (not the Third Amendment - this predates the Bill of Rights.)

Perhaps he would try to argue that some of the justices are in hock to the gay lobby, and so they would need to be ousted. Those guys only, or else he'd remove the court itself and set up something new.   ::)

[Inkidu]

Perhaps he would try to argue that some of the justices are in hock to the gay lobby, and so they would need to be ousted. Those guys only, or else he'd remove the court itself and set up something new.   ::)

Can't do that. Supreme Court justices die or retire of their own volition, baring of course your standard physical and mental health requirements for any political job.

[Hades]

Or they do something that gets them impeached and removed from office in the same process that a presidential impeachment uses.   And that only happened once in the history of the country, back in 1805 when Associate Justice Samuel Chase was impeached, but not removed from office.

[Cassandra LeMay]

Can't do that. Supreme Court justices die or retire of their own volition, baring of course your standard physical and mental health requirements for any political job.

But the number of Supreme Court judges is not set out in the Constitution, far as I know, but set by an act of Congress. Get Congress to pass a statute that sets the number of judges at 0 and hey presto - they lose their job and you are rid of the Supreme Court.

[Hades]

Saw this while checking my webcomic feed and thought others would appreciate it, especially given the sizable group of Texans we seem to have on the site.

Welcome to the land of rainbows, America. :D