Life Power Now - for gay men

June 17, 2008 has come and gone. Gay men and lesbians have begun to get married across the state. George Bush is still president (and according to Gavin Newsome the man who motivated him to allow same sex marriages in San Francisco in 2004). The planet is still hosting human life. The earth still revolves around the sun. Religious fundamentalists are still espousing gross judgments about us and working tirelessly to ensure that gays and lesbians continue to be treated as second-class citizens by amending the state’s constitution. It’s nice to know that even though we can now get married not much has changed. There were no apocalyptic natural disasters that John Hagee (founder and Senior Pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, TX) could claim as God’s wrath for homosexuality.

So, what did change on June 17, 2008? What changed is that Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, two of the gay and lesbian community’s oldest leading pioneers graced the cover of the New York Times after half a century of being unable to legally acknowledge their love and commitment. I am overjoyed that they got to see this in their lifetime. What changed is that those of us who wish can publicly and legally acknowledge our deep love and commitment. What changed is that we are no longer denied the right to care for our partners in times of crisis. Perhaps the most significant change is that our community has grown to a depth of self-love and self-validation so strong, which the government is now outwardly reflecting and validating. The power here is not that we need government validation. The power is that love can not and should never be invalidated.

This day was monumental and will go down in history. Some would like to say the change is profound and even catastrophic to society as we know it. For instance, Randy Thomasson, President, Campaign for Children and Families is deeply obsessed with not upsetting a “traditional institution." He is also obsessed with the idea that gay marriage will cause young people to be confused as to which gender to marry. I question that anemic assertion. I don’t recall being confused about my attraction to men and I doubt highly that someone who is quite surely straight will be confused about their attraction to the opposite sex. There are politicians in Massachusetts who four years ago would have sided with Thomasson. However, after seeing how much has not changed since that state made gay marriage legal they now support it. Although politically critical, I don’t see gay marriage as profound and astonishing as some would like. Is the whole marriage thing really that complex? I say it's simple. As simple as two words that have been uttered by straight men and women for eons, “I do.”

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In this blog I am going to aim to keep up to date with the latest news regarding gay marriage. For right now it seems things will remain somewhat stable until we are closer to the November election. Analysts are telling us that if we do want to get married we should do so now. Regardless of the outcome of the November election if you are legally married now you will be legally married after the election. A negative result would not be retroactive.

Resources:
http://www.kpcc.org (airtalk has done some great coverage of the gay marriage issues and celebrations)

http://www.equalityforall.com/ (Equality for All is the coalition of agencies working towards marriage freedom – if you want to get involved contact them – ALSO – they need contributions)

http://www.eqca.org/site/pp.asp?c=kuLRJ9MRKrH&b=4134583
(frequently asked questions from the website of equality California)

http://www.dhs.ca.gov/hisp/chs/OVR/Marriage/GeneralInfo.htm
(CA general marriage info)

more info about me:
my website: www.jmannino.com