A great day for love

The Supreme Court of the USA (SCOTUS) today declared unconstitutional the law defining marriage in the USA as only between a man and a woman. This means that in the thirteen states that have approved gay marriage, gay and transgendered people will have the same legal rights as heterosexuals. There was a rally and a celebration in Portland today, and speakers included a Native American official, the mayor, a former governor, a rabbi and many other faith leaders, several non-traditional families, and people who are committed to making Oregon the fourteenth state where gay and transgendered people can marry. Joy was palpable, and many of us were repeatedly moved to tears. Something we have worked for and desired for a very long time is--well, not quite a reality, but closer. Much closer to becoming so.

"Today is a great day for love," the Rev. Bill Sinkford, leader of Portland's First Unitarian Church, said, "but it comes on the day after a great disappointment. And so we can celebrate, but we need to commit ourselves ever more deeply to the work of social justice."

Sinkford was referring to the ruling by SCOTUS yesterday that eviscerated the Voting Rights Act of 1964 and paved the way for states to make it more difficult for Black people, poor people, and immigrants to vote, thereby protecting the socially conservative agenda of half the Supreme Court.

More pictures of the Portland rally are here. The light was beautiful, no processing was needed other than a little cropping, and I think the pictures do convey the relief, the hope, and the sense of possibility that many of us feel.