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.
My faith in justice has prevailed! No longer will I worry if my marriage to Daniel Greene will be made invalid or less than that of a heterosexual couple.
Andy & I had already been married by our rabbi at Dor Hadash in San Diego on August 8, 2004, but we jumped at the chance to make our partnership legal in California the first Saturday they performed these civil marriages: June 21, 2008. We were married at about 5:30 PM by a deputy named Michael, whom I recognized from the gay community. My friend Paul took this video with my Canon G9 camera, my mom and Andy’s friend David were witnesses, and also present were my mom’s friend Honey and David’s boyfriend Rich. There was an assistant in the room as well.
At the time we were married, this file was too large to upload to YouTube, I didn’t have the software to facilitate closed-captioning it, and YouTube didn’t yet allow for captions to be uploaded to accompany videos. Now, a year later, “we have the technology” (to quote from the opening sequence of The Six Million Dollar Man), and I have the honor of reliving this moment and crying at the wonder of it all.
I just want to say this: Love is gr8. Repeal Prop h8!
This little thing slips over my husband’s ear and makes our relationship different from any relationship in the history of the world– up until a decade ago. Okay, not just our relationship, but everyone’s. Just think of it– when else in history could a couple spend their whole commute home from work talking together in separate cars? We can now tell each other about our day, plan our evening, list things to do… sometimes we even discuss how we feel about each other and say anything that was left unsaid the last time we saw each other. By the time we get home after one of these discussions, we’ve moved past all that and are ready to settle into a comfortable evening together. Mobile phone technology and Bluetooth headsets have changed our lives, and I’d say for the better!
I took this photo in response to a monthly theme / challenge in the Gay Photographers (Family-Friendly) group titled "Belonging to Your Beloved." The object is to share a photo of something belonging to your beloved with a brief description of the item’s significance.
Andy & I are so blessed! We had a great Valentine’s Day and a double date with our friends Sean & Cody at Mi Pátio. This photo was taken by Cody with my camera.
I’m posting this on the one-week anniversary of our legal same-sex marriage in California. Since I took it with my Sidekick and uploaded it to Flickr right after our civil ceremony, it’s been viewed (as of this writing) 199 times, had received 53 comments, and 6 people call it a favorite.
A million thanks to all who made it possible for us to get married legally!
Andy & I first laid eyes on each other five years before the day we posed for this photo during our camping trip on Mount Lemmon. We’re still in love and as happy to be together as ever– even more so.
We bumped into each other getting in line for coffee at Claire de Lune coffee house in North Park (San Diego, California) on a Saturday morning, May 24, 2003. About all we said was “Hello!” and “Good morning!” and I wanted to meet him but I was busy having a meeting with a friend and he was busy having a meeting with some friends. Luckily, we met two days later, May 26, at a Memorial Day pool party. And we’ve been together ever since. This is the first year since we met that the days and dates we met coincided again.
This song sums up how I feel about meeting my life partner, Andy, five years ago this weekend.
The song is “Lucky To Be Me” by Leonard Bernstein from the musical On The Town. The lyrics (edit: by Betty Comden & Adolph Green) are: Continue reading →
When I took this photo of my husband Andy at a party we went to, he obligingly posed for me. I was trying to get in some practice with indoor flash photography.
Then I got home and saw the image on the computer, and I saw the love.
If I ever need a reminder of how much he loves me, all I have to do is look at this photo, and there’s the love. And when I look at a photo of my husband, it reminds me just how much I love him, too. There is something about a photograph that captures a moment and allows you to gaze at it long enough to see things or feel things that maybe we don’t take the time to see or feel when we’re going about our daily lives. Don’t get me wrong; I’m constantly reminded of how much we love each other. It’s just that a photograph is like undeniable evidence of that love and lovability, frozen in time… do you know what I mean?
I don’t have a photograph of my late grandmother looking at me like this, but I have a vivid memory of her looking deep into my eyes, penetratingly, holding my hand firmly in hers, and saying to me, serious-as-cancer, "You know I love you very much." I will never forget that. As long as I live, I will never forget how much she loved me. I saw the love in her eyes.
If you don’t have a photograph of someone who loves you, look for the love in their eyes. And don’t you forget it!
In commemoration of our two-year wedding anniversary, I published a video of myself singing a song I wrote for Andy last Valentine’s Day. (I put this on YouTube on our anniversary, August 8, but I’m just getting around to blogging about it here now.)
