Via various news sources this morning: Vermont is now providing marriages for same-sex couples. Huzzah! Apparently, there were no massive rushes for marriage licenses that we saw in San Francisco (during that brief period in which same-sex marriage licenses were allowed).
Some might think that is not a good thing, but I think that the fact that same-sex couples feel that they have the luxury of time to make their plans and have it "done right" (as it were) is a good thing, since it provides a sense of permanence to the whole institution. In other words, if the fifth New England state's allowance of same-sex marriage was met with throngs and throngs of people, it could also be seen as being similar to the bread lines of post-Soviet Russia: people lining up for the desperate hope of getting a scarce commodity that can run out at any time.
Furthermore, as the rest of New England starts issuing marriage licenses, there will be less of a "need" to go to Vermont in order to get married. The fact that so many New Englanders are feeling comfortable enough to wait for it to inevitably come to them is IMHO a good thing.
However, a blogger at Queerty - as well as NPR's marketplace - makes an interesting point: that this low turn out may be due to many couples wanting to get married on the anniversary of their previous civil union. (Civil unions were allowed in the state since 2000.)
2 comments:
are you gay?
I'm not gay, but I feel that this is a majorly important issue for many of my friends.
Post a Comment