Aloha Friday Edition No. 7

My pal Kailani at An Island Life hosts this great meme, Aloha Friday, based upon a very popular term used in Hawaii when island residents take it easy and look forward to the upcoming weekend — kind of like T.G.I.F. The meme involves no long posts, no deep soul searching revelations … just a little fun.

Each Friday, Kailani posts a simple question or topic of conversation. Visitors leave a comment on Kailani’s site and then post a question or short discussion topic on their own site. Participants visit each other’s sites and respond with a comment! Even if you do not post a question or topic on your site, you can still play by simply leaving a comment!

Here’s my question for this edition:

What is your reaction to the California Supreme Court’s ruling that restricting the right to enter into a legally binding marriage to members of the opposite sex is unconstitutional?

My answer:

I got my first wedding invitation from my favorite same-sex couple within about ten minutes of the decision’s publication. I was thrilled and excited.

Yesterday was a landmark day in the history of American jurisprudence and one of those gratifying moments when it felt like my 15 year involvement in the fight for civil rights is completely worth it. When I watched news broadcasts and saw so many happy couples reacting to the ruling, I couldn’t help but do a little dancing around my living room, too!

Last night we were listening to a talk radio show as we drove to my band concert. BigBob asked me a question that I found deceptively perceptive and quite profound. As he heard the hate speech blaring out of the car’s speakers from religious fanatics and homophobes who are determined to destroy this human rights victory with a constitutional amendment that reestablishes a discriminatory ban on same-sex marriage, he turned to me and asked: “Why do they care? It has nothing to do with them and doesn’t harm them in any way, so why can’t they just leave the people who are impacted by the decision alone and let them live happily in peace?”