And Then There Were Twelve

Today Minnesota became the 12th state in the union

to approve same sex unions. With those twelve states and  Washington D.C. there are now 56 million people living in states with marriage equality.

I am pleased.  I am hopeful. But 12 is not enough.  Look, I live in Texas and I am old enough that I really don't see Texas approving same sex unions in my life time.  I want to be wrong but the south in general and Texas in particular is stuck in another era.

The only hope I have for marriage equality in Texas in my lifetime is that DOMA gets repealed.  DOMA is unconstitutional on its face. DOMA is after all a clear violation of the constitutional mandate that requires recognition of contracts between states.  Hell I can drive my car in all 50 states because I have it registered and licensed in Texas but my husband and I aren't legal in our home state even though we are legal in another state.  That is bogus!

I am hoping the the Supreme Court will overthrow DOMA but if they don't I have a plan.  First we have all kinds of legal documents to cover us in almost any circumstances.  Second I want to get married in as many states as possible.  I would just love for someone to challenge me or my husband on the legality of our relationship and we can slide a stack of marriage certificates across the table.  Our relationship is recognized in 12 states - why wouldn't it be recognized here.

I get it that you can find passages in the Bible that condemn homosexuality.  I won't get into the ancient societal biases.  I won't get into the fact that Jesus was far more about love than condemning anyone for who they loved.  I get that some have an issue with homosexuality.  But they base it on religious values.  This country was founded on the need to protect people from religious values.    

As a LBG (late breaking gay) I got to say that this needs to be fixed!  Good grief I am over 60 - how am I going to harm society by going to bed with the man that I love?

I am pleased to no end by 12 states recognizing that gay marriage is totally legal.  But it needs to be fixed on a national basis.