Love is love

A week ago today the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled on marriage equality.
The Constitution grants … (all) equal dignity in the eyes of the law. It is so ordered.
In light of the great news, my Facebook post read: Love is love. Marriage equality for all! As it should be.
Some people are against gay marriage. For reasons of religion, morals, procreation, etc.
Here’s the deal: Marriage is about two consenting adults making a commitment.
Merriam-Webster defines marriage as: a (1): the state of being united to a person of the opposite sex as husband or wife in a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law (2): the state of being united to a person of the same sex in a relationship like that of a traditional marriage.
Marriage is a consensual and contractual relationship recognized by law, not by religion or the bible. And actually, there is nothing in there stating love.
Though I personally think love is an important factor when you get married. But it is not required to be legal.

But people get married for a variety of reasons. And their reasons are none of my business even if I disagree.
If you want to get married in a church and/or have a religious wedding ceremony then you should do that.
But my wedding with an officiant at the Arizona Inn outside among the sky, trees and grass with friends and family present is just as legit as your church wedding.
I was raised Catholic and brought up to be open-minded and loving.
Some claim that gay marriage affects their marriage. If someone else’s marriage and/or relationship is affecting your marriage or relationship then it sounds like you are the one with the problem. Someone else’s marriage/relationship should have no affect on yours.
We’ve all heard: About 50% of marriages end in divorce. I decided to research that. And the math doesn’t add up. There are 2.4 million marriages a year in the United States and 1.2 million divorces a year. But the 1.2 million divorces aren’t from the same marriages that year.
I can’t find a definitive number or percentage of marriages ending in divorce. But a million divorces a year is still a lot. And that number was BEFORE marriage equality was the law of the land.
So who do we blame for all those divorces? Britney Spears, Sean Penn, Kim Kardashian, Larry King, Jennifer Lopez, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elizabeth Taylor, Kenny Rogers, Liza Minnelli, Billy Bob Thorton, Christie Brinkley, Geraldo Rivera, Lana Turner, Frank Sinatra?
Did any of their crazy marriages, multiple marriages/divorces affect your marriage/relationship? I am gonna take a BIG guess and say, NO!
When Curt and I got married I assumed we would have kids. Because that’s what you do, right? Get married, buy a house, have kids. Well, at some point we realized we didn’t want kids and are self-proclaimed child free by choice.
We got married because we love each other and wanted to spend our life together. And almost 12 years later …
Years ago The West Wing’s President Jed Bartlet made a pretty strong statement here while quoting scripture. It’s pretty awesome and powerful.
When gay marriage in California was ruled in favor of by SCOTUS a friend/co-worker told me she had gained more than 1,000 rights. Wowza! (The U.S. Supreme Court decided in favor of marriage equality in California on June 26, 2013.)
Can you imagine being in the hospital with the person you have loved for 5, 10, 15, … 50 … years and they are dying and you aren’t considered next of kin? And maybe they have a bad relationship or no relationship with their parents/kids/family and those are the people who are going to decide what happens to the love of your life, even if it is something against their wishes.
I believe in separation of church and state. I also believe everyone should be treated equally.
Love is love.