Unless you live under a rock (in which case you probably believed the sky was falling from all of the jumping and cheering) you know that history has just been made; again. Yesterday, just before midnight, NY became the 6th (and largest) state to legalize gay marriage! This, in itself, surprises me as NYC is the true capital of the USA (IMHO).
The slow ticking of the clock as the country waited to see if legislators had the Kahunas to do the right thing, was nerve wracking to say the least. It was like holding a lottery ticket in front of the t.v. and waiting for that last ball to match. The queer thing (no pun intended…well, yea it is considering I just acknowledged it and didn’t delete it) is that I didn’t need to turn on the news. A huge, monumental, event was about to take place, whether the answer was a go or no, and the boob-tube was the furthest thing from my mind–just not fast enough. I knew, when tweets peaked and Facebook stat changes began to weigh down the internet, the verdict was in.
And there it was; such a sweet tweet: “WE DID IT!! WE DID IT!! I’m crying now! We did it!!” It felt like New Year’s Eve or a presidential election. Like someone yelled, “FREE BEER!” minus the stampead. Closet doors from Harlem to 5th Avenue flew open in unison like a choreographed scene from a musical and I so wanted to be a part of it (NY, NY).
Unfortunately, not everyone felt as I did. People–with minds narrow in scope–expressed their opinions as well. They have a right to their opinion as much as I have a right to mine and GLBT equally (she said equally; get it?) have the right to marry. I, thankfully, don’t follow or have anyone who would voice their opinion negatively on any lists within my social network. Nor, did I care what the other side had to say at that moment. Instead, I rejoiced with heartfelt empathy and tears the size of gumdrops as NY took one small step and one giant leap. Bring on the fierce & fab, chartreuse, weddings of the century!
June 24, 2011 will also be a day of tribute (and I truly wish on dead dandelions that this day is placed into history books all over the world) for the gay and lesbian Americans who have lost their lives to AIDS, suicide and hate. Many now wait, with great anticipation, for the next state to join the party on this connect-the-dots-for-equality map. Some hoping it will open doors to bigger and better things, like national legalization, while others just hope for their parents to see that this is bigger than them; their child is normal and should be free to love whomever he/she wishes, without judgement.
LOVE=marriage. Sadly, many heterosexuals take this right for granted and marry for other reasons. Show them how it’s done NY!!!
Original article posted by Joani Plenty 6/25/11. (c) Joan Plenty 2011
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