photo from abcnews.com
I know, I know.
I've consciously moved away from writing about politics, for the most part, but today is entirely too momentous to ignore. The Supreme Court of the United States has struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage as between one man and one woman. They have deemed that the federal government can not deny marriage benefits and marriage status to same sex couples who are legally married. This means if you went to DC and got married during that big rally, if you are like The Wifester and I and went to another country and got legally married, if you live in a state that allows same sex marriage and you got legally married there, the government will now recognize you as married! You can file joint tax returns. You can collect your partner's pension and social security when they pass. You can both adopt a child together rather than one person adopting and claiming to be a single parent adopter. You can now have access to the 1,100 federal benefits that have, until this day, been denied to you.
This is a day that, honestly, 10 years ago I'd of told you that I would never live to see, though future generations might, possibly, maybe... This is a day that 20 years ago I'd of told you would never happen in this country. Period.
In fact, I woke up this morning ready to console myself, my friends, my facebook acquaintances. I woke up this morning preparing myself for the "Never Give Up" speeches and the, "That's OK, we'll get em' next time!" comforts. I had a tiny sliver of hope. The kind of tiny sliver of hope that I seem to always hold on to, even when all signs point to defeat and hopelessness. And so I acknowledged it as my own personal hope against all hope, and prepared myself for the let down.
Needless to say, I am happy about today's SCOTUS rulings. But there is still work to do. In many states, like here in Ohio, marriage between two women or two men is still not legal, and so those federal benefits become patchy, at best, when looking at how they cover couples like The Wifester and I...
There's still work to do, but now we know, beyond any doubt, that it is doable.
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