Hooray for marriage quality! #LoveWins pic.twitter.com/8zkCIynky7
— MTV Comics (@mtvcomics) June 26, 2015
This morning’s breaking news is that the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of marriage equality. Finally, in the 21st century, when we were all so supposed to be enlightened and tolerant and possessed of love for all Mankind, the sacrament of marriage (and the legal benefits that flow therefrom) is available to all. On the one hand, I’m happy for so many of my friends and their loved ones whose relationships and life-long commitments will finally have legal standing. On the other, I’m saddened that a basic human right had to be granted validity by the Supreme Court…the same folks who gave us Citizens United. Two steps forward, one step back.
More than anything, it’s about damned time, but the wheels of progress and social justice turn slowly in America. Interracial marriage was illegal in my lifetime, until 1967’s Loving v. Virginia Supreme Court ruling invalidated anti-miscegenation laws. If there’s one thing Americans collectively excel at, it’s hating those we refuse or can’t be bothered to understand.
I haven’t read the decision nor seen much of the news coverage yet this morning, but I can only begin to imagine what a cause for celebration this must be for so many. There are innumerable pundits who will wax rhapsodic on one side and apoplectic on the other, but the bottom line is this: There is no more “same-sex marriage” or “traditional marriage. There is only marriage. Yes, we should have arrived here long ago, but the good news is that we have. Finally. The American Taliban has been dealt yet another setback in their drive to enforce their narrow, anti-Christian, fear-based agenda on all Americans. I fully expect Mike Huckabee, Michael Savage, and Rick Santorum to spontaneously explode sometime today from an overload of righteous anger. I can only hope it will be captured on video.
Now, on the red hills of Georgia, a son of former slaves & a son of former slave owners can stand together and say “I do.”
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) June 26, 2015
No, we don’t yet live in a world with perfect equality, where all are held to have the same (legal and moral) rights regardless of who they are, how they live and love, or what they believe. Those of us who don’t believe in God are (in contravention of the 1st Amendment’s Exclusion Clause) still barred from elected office in many states. Skin color still absolutely matters in 21st-century America. The LGBT community is still a long, long ways from enjoying equal rights across the board…but what today represents is progress, a step in the right direction. Another brick in the wall.
I can hardly wait for that shining example of the American Taliban’s commitment to living the teachings of Jesus Christ, Rick Scarborough, to set himself on fire, as he promised to do if SCOTUS ruled in favor of marriage equality. Even if he does, the collective reaction will very likely be something along the lines of “MEH….” Why would those of us who cherish equality give a damn about the motives and actions of one hatred-consumed member of the American Taliban when we have so much to celebrate on this glorious last Friday in June?
Today is a victory, though there’s still much work to be done in order to create a more perfect Union. Even with that in mind, I’ll defer to the sentiments of a very wise and generous friend:
“F—K IT!! LET’S DANCE!!!”
