These are the days that make me proud to be an American

[ebonlock]

Mass. Court Strikes Down Gay-Marriage Ban


"Whether and whom to marry, how to express sexual intimacy, and whether and how to establish a family — these are among the most basic of every individual's liberty and due process rights," the majority opinion said. "And central to personal freedom and security is the assurance that the laws will apply equally to persons in similar situations."

"Barred access to the protections, benefits and obligations of civil marriage, a person who enters into an intimate, exclusive union with another of the same sex is arbitrarily deprived of membership in one of our community's most rewarding and cherished institutions," the opinion said.


About damn time.

Comments

[centerfire.livejournal.com]

I blogged a little about this here (http://tabula-rasa.filidh.org/archives/000639.html), in the form of a memo to my more conservative friends.

My own feelings on this outcome are more mixed. I want gay folks to be treated fairly, but there's a large and visible minority within the heterosexual population that actively seeks to subvert social norms (these are the folks who turn Pride parades from expressions of solidarity into exercises in tastelessness), and this is going to be a big hit with those folks -- whose agenda I do not support -- as much as with Joe and Ted Queer, who just want to be able to make healthcare decisions for one another without the cost and hassle of setting up a power-of-attorney arrangement.

[ebonlock.livejournal.com]

My own feelings on this outcome are more mixed. I want gay folks to be treated fairly, but there's a large and visible minority within the heterosexual population that actively seeks to subvert social norms (these are the folks who turn Pride parades from expressions of solidarity into exercises in tastelessness), and this is going to be a big hit with those folks -- whose agenda I do not support -- as much as with Joe and Ted Queer, who just want to be able to make healthcare decisions for one another without the cost and hassle of setting up a power-of-attorney arrangement.

I think every group out there has a few members that make the rest groan and shake their heads sadly. But I don't think the entire group should be denied legal protection or rights because of it. And frankly I think there's a pretty good sized minority of hetero folks who wouldn't mind subverting social norms either. :)

[centerfire.livejournal.com]

I'd say it's more than a few -- the Pride parades I've been to have seemed less like expressions of solidarity and more like demonstrations of tastelessness -- but I do take your meaning.

Mostly I was trying to articulate why, while I support this particular outcome, I'm having a difficult time standing up and cheering about it.

[ebonlock.livejournal.com]

Mostly I was trying to articulate why, while I support this particular outcome, I'm having a difficult time standing up and cheering about it.

I get where you're coming from, and I respect your position though it differs from mine. Personally I see stuff like "Joe Millionaire" and "For Better or For Worse" doing more harm to straight marriage than anything the gay community could possibly come up with...but I'm not much of a reality t.v. fan either ;)