We’ll Look Back On Today
/departing from travel talk/
I’ve seen a bunch of posts from my fellow blogger today about the landmark same-sex marriage ruling the Supreme Court released today. They’ve all summarized the issue at hand well. I wasn’t going to write about it myself because I thought it was well covered, but I had an interesting conversation with a friend/co-worker today about it.
The gist of it is that my daughter and son (9 years old and 4) will grow up in a world where they’ll talk about the time when same-sex marriage wasn’t legal. It makes me think of my parent’s generation, who lived through segregation and ultimately the removal of (most of) those barriers. And, it makes me think that I never questioned a black person in my school because they were another person, not a separate class of society.
I understand not everyone agrees with the ruling. Some folks I know and love are vehemently opposed.
But, as I said in the car today, I’m happy my children won’t have those barriers. We have enough man-made barriers to equality already.
It seemed fitting to close with this American Airlines pic, especially given some of the flack they received when they changed their Twitter avatar recently to celebrate Pride Month.
/resume travel talk/
It does not escape my notice that no one besides myself has commented yet on this post, or that no Boarding Area bloggers that I’m aware of besides you have weighed it. Thank you for a bit of support.
Patrick, there are a few bloggers like Mommy Points, One Mile at a Time, View From the Wing, Wandering Aramean that weighed in earlier in the day. But, it’s great to hear you weighing in as well. If I didn’t have my head down in work all day I would have posted sooner, but it’s been one of those days. But, I’ll definitely be able to tell my kids I remember the day that the right decision was made.
Right in whose eyes? Who defines right and wrong?
You?
Societal consensus?
Tom, everyone makes their own decisions on what’s right and wrong when it comes to issues like this.
Thanks, Ed, for pointing out those other blog posts that somehow eluded my attention. Your kids are lucky to have a father who understands the issue because, as some of the other comments to this post illustrate, if you can’t rely on your family to explain this, you certainly can’t rely on the public at large to do so.
Patrick, I do understand why some folks disagree, and I’m also reasonably fine with a church not wanting to marry a gay couple. Separation of church and state is part of the fabric of our country. I just wish some of the radical views against gay marriage weren’t quite so….radical.
Just remember that half of the country is not sharing the joy. And they will be persecuted for it.
I imagine in a few years you may write:
The gist of it is that my daughter and son will grow up in a world where they’ll talk about the time when same-sex marriage wasn’t legal or mandatory.
“Mandatory”? What are you even talking about?
What a bunch of nonsense! But I will say this: it’s one thing to compare segregation to the discrimination and persecution gays faced back in the middle of the 20th century; but their status the past 10 years, while there was still progress to be done, should not be compared to that of blacks then (or even of blacks right now who have learned to be afraid whenever they see a cop). Logically and in terms of fairness, there was no good reason (other than “tradition” which is often invoked when people can’t think of anything else) to deny gay couples the right to marry, so this is a sensible decision which will once and for all end this whole struggle.
Sure it’s great that gays can now be married. But you’re fiddling while Rome burns. After all, what good are gay rights when the planet is destroyed? Not once have I seen you talk about the effect your travel behavior contributes to climate change. Never have I seen you discuss carbon offsets (despite them being easily purchased e.g., on the BA website). Have you ever used a carbon footprint calculator to see how much your travel behavior contributes to climate change?
Supporting gay rights, and pointing the finger at those that don’t, is relatively easy. But examining and changing your own behavior is hard. I challenge you to address the issue of climate change as it relates to your own behavior in future posts.
dave, I understand and respect your concerns. Quite frankly, I think my carbon footprint for air travel is probably better than those who commute by car in a big SUV every day. I drive a hybrid car and my wife and I frequently carpool for errands. Our entire household is either fluorescent or LED bulbs and we’ve taught our children why it’s important to turn off lights and gadgets when not in use. There are smaller carbon footprints than mine, but I feel comfortable with how I use energy.
Just wanted to chime in. I too am glad that we will live in a world where we are finally getting marriage equality. I am not surprised that others are not happy about that. There are still people in our country who are not happy that slavery ended. Haters gonna hate..
Thanks for weighing in, Madam. Definitely not going to make everyone happy on this one!