Tag: gay

Posted on in Lifestyle, Travel

We’re proud to be an American

Andy & I had mixed feelings about our visit to WTC & 9/11 memorial
Andy & me at the World Trade Center & 9/11 memorial

Or at least we know we’re free– to walk around this site, that is. As much as it saddened and frightened me on 9/11, and as much as I respect the people who died, the people who died trying to save them–and the people who survived–I was glad to be over the hour-and-a-half ordeal it took us to get into this mall/quad/park so we could actually experience it. I can’t imagine it’s going to be this hard to get in once all the construction is complete, is it? I mean, it’s a public space in public streets surrounded by public buildings. It shouldn’t take that much security just to walk around there. Just my opinion, no offense intended.

Video
Posted on in Lifestyle

Third Anniversary of our California Same-sex Marriage

It’s important to recognize that Andy & I were already married by our rabbi on August 8, 2004, in the eyes of God and our close family and friends. Nonetheless, we commemorate today the third anniversary of our “legal” marriage in California on June 21, 2008. California began marrying same–sex couples legally on Tuesday, June 17, 2008, and Andy & I drove Friday night to get to San Diego so we could be married the first day we could. It was not just a political statement, since we were already married and still are, but we did it for political and legal reasons. We went to show California that same–sex couples demanded legal marriage. As it turned out, we were married by a sweet young man who had been deputized for the occasion and was as sympathetic to our cause as can be, and we were blessed to have a few of our closest friends and my mother there to join us. It was, as you can see in the video, a heartfelt, tearful, and joyful occasion. This should not be an ephemeral phenomenon. Same–sex marriage should become legal throughout the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. It’s way past due.

Posted on in Lifestyle

U.S. Judge Overturns Prop. 8 In Gay Rights Victory! – Heard on NPR

Re: U.S. Judge Overturns Prop. 8 In Gay Rights Victory : The Two-Way : NPR.

When I heard this on the radio in the car this afternoon, I could not help but beam with joy. I didn’t mean to have such an emotional reaction to the news; it just bubbled up from within. Regardless of whether or not the inevitable appeal against this ruling is upheld in the next hearing (which I don’t think it will be), this is a great step forward for equal rights.

Andy & I were legally married in California the first Saturday same-sex marriages were performed: June 21, 2008. Our marriage was upheld even after Prop 8. Still, it is meaningless where we live in Arizona. I have hope that this new ruling will set a precedent for similar rulings in other states.

I think the gay marriage argument is simple: opposite-sex couples have nothing to lose by same-sex marriage while same-sex couple have much to gain. The idea that “marriage is between a man and a woman” is Biblical at best and arrogant at worst. There is simply no reason a man and a man or a woman and a woman shouldn’t be allowed to marry if they want to. Separation of church and state; equal rights for all. That’s the American way.