Going to the Chapel...

Not really, but:

Who would have thought that it would be 30 hours past the most historic court decision involving equality since the U. S. Supreme Court overturned Texas' sodomy law in Lawrence v Texas in 2003, before I posted a comment on California's ruling? But sometimes family celebratory occasions and midterm exams take precedence. Besides, now I have the benefit of everyone else's opinions.

Let me start by saying I knew the decision would come out around noon yesterday and as I was driving I was listening to Sirius OutQ to hear what I hoped would be good news. They said there was some delay, and I went to CNN where some uninformed reporter who must be embarrassed out of her shell was stating the marriage ban had been upheld and the San Francisco marriages annulled and there would be hundreds of thousands of people disappointed and this would be a set back for the gay rights movement and all.

Crap, I thought, and I switched back to OutQ where their reporter was just beginning to read from the decision (about 160 pages) and said the ban had been overturned, and that the court ruled that "Our state now recognizes that an individual's capacity to establish a loving and long-term committed relationship with another person and responsibly to care for and raise children does not depend upon the individual's sexual orientation..."

Not long after we learned that the ruling began with a historical account of sorts, and that the CNN reporter was reading that, thinking it was the ruling. Ha.

Out Q beat all the news outlets as well as AP with the story.

Anyway, here are the important things I now realize.

• The Republican party did not come out swinging (except for Jay Love, running for congress here in Alabama...thanks Jimbo for the tip...you can view Jay Love's awful ad on youtube but I am not providing a link. More about him later). How could they? Three of the four justices who ruled in favor of same sex marriage were appointed by republicans, and the darling of republican governors Arnold Schwarzenegger has vowed to uphold the freedom to marry.

• The fight is not over (nor will it ever be). California has a ballot initiative to write discrimination into their constitution that will likely be on the November ballot. But marriages can begin in 29 days or so. By November, hopefully thousands of couples will enter into traditional, loving same sex marriages and other Californians will see that the sky did not falland that pestilence has not overtaken the state, and will vote against the measure.

• Just I consider myself straight friendly (I hold no animosity against straight people) there are many Americans who are gay friendly and support the rights of all. So everyone, gay or straight, who reads this should go to Equality For All which is the organization formed to fight the ballot initiative and donate to the cause. The religious wrong is going to be gathering energy and money from across the country to support the ban. Can you say Hawaii, 1990's? Remember how it took efforts from across the country to stop same sex marriage in Hawaii? Remember those efforts were successful? So let's not let that happen again. Come on everyone, donate a little!

• California was the first state to legalize interracial marriage way back in the 1940's. Other states followed suit and eventually the U. S. Supreme Court ruled in Loving v Virginia in 1967 that interracial marriage should be and would be legal. That is the way it has to work. After several states enact marriage laws one or more can bring the issue before the Supreme Court.

• Yiiiipeeeeeee!!!!!! Yippeeee. Yippeeeee. Yiiipppeeeeee!!!!!!

• Now let's get to work. Oh, and Jay Love? His ad says "Christian Conservative Change." You might as well say Iraq War, high gas prices, inflated food costs, torture, and blunders because those are the Bush policies and he claims to be the Christian conservative. Let's hope the people in that district can keep him at home.