Breaking News – New York Gets Gay Marriage And World Doesn’t End!

New York gays began getting married last night at midnight and guess what? So far the heavens haven’t opened to swallow the world whole nor have terrorists begun to attack the city in what so many (especially those on HubPages) claimed would be the inevitable result of allowing gays to have the same rights as straightees here in America (where all men are supposed to be created equal). Breaking News – New York Gets Gay Marriage And World Doesn’t End!!

Now I realize that many are going to say that the fires of hell are just being stoked at this point. That they have not yet had the opportunity to reach their optimum Sodom and Gomorrah boiling point temperature and that it’s only a matter of time before we see New York falling into the ocean with the Statue Of Liberty standing in the harbor shaking her head and shedding a tear but for those of you who think this way, I’m sorry to say that I think you have a long wait for any of these types of tragedies of biblical proportion to happen.

Again I’m drawn not to the fact that some religious zealots are worried about civilization according to their “good book” but just how much energy, time and money are wasted trying to legislate love. Think of all the money both sides of this issue spend and then think about the homeless, jobless and the fact that we have our local and federal government spending hours and hours on this instead of solving real problems.

Here’s a short list of what I think we should all be worrying about more than gays having the right to marry. When America has stopped really producing products where will the jobs of tomorrow come from? When Americans (not just kids but their parents) think American Idol is a better career path than education (and more money is spent on reality television than education in this country) who will be equipped to run this country moving forward? Why do we spend more time worrying about people being in this country “illegally” and figuring out how to ship them “home” instead of finding a responsible way to get them into our country’s systems and have them start paying taxes to help the country? There are literally so many things that America needs to figure out at this point that I really feel as though we should be putting all our resources toward the issues above but hey, maybe it’s just me.

As I’ve stated numerous times before, I don’t care about shoes and rice, I just want the same rights as my straightee counterparts in a country that is supposed to guarantee me those rights. I’m thrilled that it looks as though Don’t Ask Don’t Tell will soon be something just for the history books. And while I’m delighted for all those gay couples in New York getting the right to marry I worry that something like what happened in California with Proposition 8 may be a possibility too. You see, if we gays have learned nothing, it’s that we need to be cautiously optimistic because too often the rights we get today get taken away tomorrow. It’s a bit like being a victim of abuse who can never really celebrate because they are looking around the corner waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop. (I don’t think it helps that some of us are still living in states that either ban gay marriage or give us second class status with “Domestic Partnerships” that look like marriage on paper but don’t come close and aren’t recognized federally.)

Still, today is a day of celebration, to be thankful for the strides we’ve made and are making to gaining not special rights (as some would have you believe) but equal rights. And look, there’s Lady Liberty in the harbor lifting her flame which supposedly represents “enlightenment.” Let’s hope New York allowing gay marriages lights the way for many more states and our Federal Government to become enlightened about the rights its citizens not only deserve but are guaranteed in our Constitution!