To all the gays and lesbians here on Daily Kos and especially those in California who have chosen to get married, I want to wish you a Happy Pride
As a native San Franciscan, the first gay parade I ever saw was when I was 13 and my mother took an ill-advised right turn in our pastel blue Rambler onto Polk Street. At that time it was a few floats and lots of drag queens. Everyone watching on the parade route (and there were just a few) was laughing and a few banged on the window of our car. My sister in the backseat chose to wave and smile. I sort of scrunched down in the front seat.
Since then I have participated and marched by choice many times. It is amazing how far we have come - we have won some major legal cases since then - but sometimes because I live in Northern California and a very tolerant environment, I forget all those who are facing major obstacles. You can still be killed if you are gay in the wrong place in this country and in other countries you can be executed by the state. If you fall in love with someone from another country, you may likely be separated forever due to our federal laws. If your lover of 20 years is sick and dying, in many states you may be refused the right to see him or her unless you have done all the correct paperwork. And if he/she dies, you might lose your home.
It's funny but the marriage issue was never one of the most personally pressing ones for me. I wasn't going to get married and there was all the strange history, the love honor and "obey", the property rights, the establishment of traditional order. Of course I was in favor of gay marriage as I realized there were thousands of rights that were immediately conferred on you when you got married, and anyone who wanted to get those rights should have them. Its just that civil unions if they gave the same rights might do as well. But when the marriage decision in California was first announced though I was sitting at a restaurant in the Castro and felt tears come to my eyes. I was surprised at myself. But I realized there was something deeply emotional about it as well. There is something important, deeply important, about being treated equally and even the language that describes it make a difference. I think about it now and it still chokes me up.
Anyway I hope everyone has a lovely pride day even if you aren't gay.