Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Weds Brief




This week was a major victory for the gay community.   Doma and Prop 8 are no more.  Now it is the states turn to do the right thing and allow gays to marry like everyone else can.

This week’s prompts are:
"I come from the land of ice and snow..." or "I come from a land down under..." or "Wherever I may roam..." or use: a band of angels or "Something's rotten in the state of..." or "two peas in a pod" or use sugar, but not in baking or tie a yellow ribbon in some way or  "We will be victorious" or "Puff the magic dragon" or feature an Escher print or a piece of Warhol pop art.

A friend sent along a video of one of the first gay marriages to take place after the repeal of Prop 8.  It appears below.


“Tom? Tom!”  Ben called out to his husband.  Tom had just gotten through the door from work and had taken a shower.   Ben was sitting in the living room, listening to MSNBC, when the news broke.  

“I’m coming, Ben, hold your horses.”  Tom sat down next to Ben and put his arm around his man’s shoulders.  “What’s all the commotion?”

“I tried to call you at work but you must have been on a call.  Did you hear about Doma and Prop 8?”  Ben was all excited he had a smile on his face and was beaming from ear to ear.

“Yes, I did. All the guys at the firehouse were talking about it.”

“No one gave you a hard time or nothing?” Ben knew there were still far too many homophobes, some in public service, like the fire department.   He still worried about Tom’s safety sometimes.

“No, all the guys are cool about it, even the new guy, Chester.  Turns out he’s gay, He’s been with the house two months, and he celebrated the news by coming out to us.”

“Wow, that was brave.”  Ben remembered how hard the decision was for Tom to come out to his fellow firefighters.  And that was several years ago.

“Yeah, it was, but I think times have changed enough that more gays should be able to be who they are.”

“I hear you, honey.”  Ben kissed his husband.  “I wanted you to watch the wedding.”

“What wedding?”

“The wedding between Paul Katami and Jeff Zarillo, They were the prop 8 plaintiffs. The mayor of Los Angeles married them.  They’re rebroadcasting it now.   Well, we’ll be able to see if after all these darn commercials are done.”



After the “I do’s”, Ben turned to Tom and saw the tears of joy running down his face.  “I’m glad I’m not the only one who cries at weddings.”

“This one’s different.   It means that this is, hopefully, the beginning of the rest of the states approving gay marriage.”   Tom grabbed a tissue from the box on the coffee table and dabbed his eyes and blew his nose.

“Tom, I know we’re married.  I mean, we’re married in the state of Vermont.  But I just wish we could have been married here, in Pennsylvania.”  Ben wiped his own eyes and leaned his head on Tom’s shoulder.

“I know, honey.  We have to see what we can do to change that,”  Tom said wistfully.

Ben had made them a beef stew and they sat outside on their balcony, enjoying a cozy dinner for two.  Dessert was also enjoyed outside.  Ben had made strawberry shortcake, one of their favorites.

“I have an idea how we can show some support for gay marriage.”

“How?”

“Come on.”  Ben took Tom by the hand and stopped by the craft room and grabbed yellow ribbon and a pair of scissors.

“Let’s tie these on our trees in front.  I’m going to take a picture and go on Facebook and Twitter and post it.  I’m going to call the campaign “a hope for change.”    A change so that all gays in all states choose to marry.   What do you think of my idea?”  Ben watched Tom take some yellow ribbon, walk over to the maple in front and tie it around the trunk.  Come back to him and kissed him on the lips. 

“Every time I think I can’t love you more you do something like this.”

They spent the time tying ribbons around several trees and stood back and admired their work.  Now if only…

TBC

my fellow flashers:


4 comments:

  1. Yup, if only. Hope the laws change so they can be marriage where they live.
    Tweeted.

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  2. What a great tribute to a landmark decision and what it means for people everywhere. :) I really love how real these guys feel, every time you write about them.

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  3. a really really lovely little chunk of Tom and Ben's life. The video was a wonderful touch. i loved it. Thank you

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  4. Thank you so much. I really appreciate your support.

    <3

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