Cultural Quarantine

So, California's Supreme Court ratifies Proposition 8 but apologizes/softens the blow by saying it isn't effective retroactively and that it doesn't deny anyone the right to a same-sex civil union. THIS article in the New York Times lists several reasons why that actually really sucks but I thought of another one. It makes it harder to argue for the repeal of Proposition 8 with practical arguments about legal rights because the court says all the law withholds is the title, the word marriage. Which reduces this discussion, for the time being, to its most difficult aspects. Either you are for an inclusive society that accepts gayness without qualms, or you have a problem with that. Perhaps it's good. Perhaps it will force that discussion even further out into the open.

I know it's a long way off from May, but I'd like to see the fight for gay marriage identified with Valentine's Day. Just imagine the parade. Valentine's Day is actually all about the right to marriage as a specifically sacred thing. After all, St. Valentine became known as the patron saint of love and lovers during the Roman Empire when soldiers were forbidden to marry. He continued to perform ceremonies in defiance of the law. I think he was martyred for it. So the story goes. And that's why we get to put pink and red together and eat chocolate in February.

Wait, V-Day already co-opted Valentine's Day to fight violence against women. Maybe they'll share the day, at least until everyone can really marry the consenting adult of their dreams.