Love is Love...

Today, I'm sure, was a bittersweet day for gay and lesbian couples across the nation. In New Haven, Connecticut, Barbara Levine-Ritterman proudly held aloft the first same-sex marriage license issued in that state. For the first time, same-sex couples stood in the same line as heterosexual couples to await getting their marriage licenses.

According to the Associated Press, "The health department had new marriage applications printed that reflect the change. Instead of putting one name under "bride" and the other under "groom," couples will see two boxes marked "bride/groom/spouse." Connecticut voters could have opened the door to ending gay marriage last week by voting for a constitutional convention to amend the state's constitution, but the measure was defeated."

So what makes this bittersweet? This should be a day of rejoicing, a day of victory, right? And in a way, it is. But this victory comes on the tails of a heartbreaking defeat.

A week ago, the crushing reality of California's betrayal was just beginning to set in. Prop 8 was passed in California, overturning the Supreme Court's ruling allowing same-sex marriage, and thus invalidating hundreds of marriages in the process, including that of a dear friend of mine.

Sure, Californians voted yes on Prop 2, protecting the treatment of FARM ANIMALS, and ensuring THEIR rights, but what about the rights of human beings? The right to love and be loved by whomever makes you happy? Does it really affect you in anyway whether I marry a man or woman? Does it really affect you if my heart belongs to a Jack or a Jacqueline? No, it doesn't, just like I really could not care less if you were screwing Elizabeth Taylor upside-down from a ceiling fan, as long as you weren't putting either or yourself in PHYSICAL danger.

I may be Wiccan, but I am also, as my English professor puts it, a "recovering Catholic". Six years of Catholic education coupled with thirty one years of Catholic dogma shoved down your throat, and certain things stick with you. Like the fact that Jesus never said "God Hates Fags". In fact, he said "Love one another as I have loved you" (John 15:12). Nor did he say "Fags Burn In Hell". He said "let he who is without sin cast the first stone" (John 8:2-11). Jesus was one cool dude. He was the original hippie, all about peace and love, even as he was dying, asking God, "Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). So why do these people keep on hating other people in his name? One of these days, he IS going to come back, if only to curse these people out and say, "hey geniuses! I'd like my religion and my name back, thanks very much!"

Love is love. Love, in ALL its forms, makes the world a better place, and we'd be much better off as a society if we would just stop being judgmental morons.