Being Thankful Day Two: Marriage Equality

               Friday June 26, 2015 will be a day that many in the LGBT+ community will always remember, it is the day that we got the right to marry. I will admit I was in shock. I really didn’t believe that I would see it in my lifetime and I am only 34. I expected that this would be the thing of future generations who were wiser and more learned than my own. So to see it happen was a total surprise to me. I look at Jim Obergefell who brought the case to the Supreme Court with admiration. His courage to take a stand and fight is awe inspiring.

              

I am thankful for this because as I have gotten older marriage is one of those things that I think I would consider. I spent my teens and 20s dismissing marriage as an archaic concept. Now I see it as something beautiful that exist as a symbol of love, not just a government contract. When the fight for marriage equality began it was before I came to terms with my sexuality and I remember looking at images of happy same-sex couples getting married and feeling a pang in my heart, and secretly wishing that was me one day.

I’m thankful for this because what it means beyond love. Yes love is important, and being in love is the reason you should get married, but there’s legal issues too, and marriage equality opened up a whole host of legal protections for same-sex couples. From things like being able to be by your dying partners side or being able to leave your pension to your partner in the event of your death. These are the things that we should have had a long time ago, but at least we have them now, and I’m grateful for that.