Interesting reading the news from Des Moines and flashing back to the first day of legal same-sex marriage in California last June.  We were planning to get married on Day Two (which we did), but on Day One we spent some time scouting out the registrar’s office up in downtown San Luis Obispo.  

Two things were in mind: we didn’t want to get lost the next morning with our guests in tow, and we were just a tad curious about how the local wingnuts were going to react. We found the building easily, and instead of wingnuts we found the local branch of the Unitarian Universalists serving cake and handing out roses. We hadn’t been quite certain how our folk would be welcomed up there (most of the news accounts had focussed on the larger counties) and along with the wonderful staff at the San Luis Obispo county recorder’s office, their congregation’s marriage party was a pleasant surprise.  Glad to see they’re doing their thing for Iowans too.

Forget that whole “redefining marriage” thing.  It’s done and done and we have gone and redefined marriage:

1 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 b: the mutual relation of married persons : wedlock c: the institution whereby individuals are joined in a marriage

[via and via]  Thank you Merriam-Webster.

The day after my 45th birthday, on the 260th day of my marriage, the California Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the legal cases arising from Proposition 8.  That gives us a ruling by the first week of June.   Should be an interesting spring.

Fighting for rights by the light of the full moon.  [via]  Amazing the amount of damage a simple word can cause, isn’t it?

Five thousand words about last night’s No on 8 rally are over in the photo gallery. Maybe a few more than that if you count the captions.

Had a good conversation with some similarly situated folks at a Halloween party last night. Long and the short of it was a consensus that the battle over marriage equality won’t be ending Tuesday. If the Mormons lose, they’ll just come back in two years with more money. If the initiative passes, it just means years and years of litigation and uncertainty. Significant venting, even before the drinks kicked in, over the softness and group-hugginess of the No on Proposition 8 commercials that actually make it to the airwaves. Maybe it’s what the so-called marketing experts think is needed, but I think a lot of gays in the streets are getting really tired of being nice and polite while being called second-class citizens. Like their earlier video on marital “equipment checks“, Courage Campaign’s new video cuts to the chase about the 900-pound gorilla in the room in California’s battle over Proposition 8.

If they can do this to California, who will be next? You know they won’t stop here.

Looks like its about time for a big, kick-ass Jedi to step in and knock some heads.

I thought I was finally through with the wedding posts, but then found this in a comment elsewhere. In response to Leahpeah’s post on our wedding and reception, and her beautiful photo, Ozma wrote

I’m truly digging those shirts. Many have spoken out on the fact that gays and lesbians shall ensure that weddings simply become more and more fabulous and if nothing else, we need to agitate ’til the cows come home to make sure this happens in every state.

Lovin’ it, and thank you.

Los Angeles Times reports that the California Teacher’s Association is giving one million dollars to the fight against Proposition 8.

“For us, it’s a civil rights issue,” said the association’s President David Sanchez. “We don’t believe people should be treated differently.”

The teachers union also takes issue with advertisements by backers of Proposition 8 suggesting that the measure would stop children from being taught about gay marriage in schools. Union leaders echoed complaints by the No on 8 campaign that the ads are misleading because California law already prohibits teaching any child health issues without parental consent.

That’s the same point as was made in an editorial against the measure in yesterday’s San Diego Union-Tribune.

The reality though is that elementary kids are going to learn about marriage at school. Most of them will learn about it early on, when they find out that every family is not like their own, and they’ll learn about it in the schoolyard like every other important issue. Some families have a mommy and a daddy, some only have one or the other, and some have two of each and none of the other.

Little Trevor’s daddies will host a birthday party, or little Michelle’s mommies will sit next to each other at the school play, and some god-fearing couple with four failed marriages between them will get apoplectic and embarrass their child in front of his friends. Which is the family with problems in this picture?

The sad part is that some adults want the different kids to be ashamed about their parents, and to have fewer legal rights if both their parents are of the same gender. How on earth can that be in the children’s best interests? Why should the California Constitution be amended to help them in that?

Spinner was kind enough last night to accompany me to the local camera store. He was a good husband, kept an eye on my plastic, and pulled me back to the car at just the point I started drooling over the shineys.

We did however, accomplish our mission there, which was to pick up some film (yes film) from our reception earlier this month. In addition to the beautiful work of our professional photographer, we also seeded the tables with those little disposable cameras to see what our guests would do.

Needless to say, our guests were a hoot, and we certainly appreciate their contributions to the memories of the day.

Also wanted to thank Leahpeah for a kind post and great photo of the day.