Like many others, I am anxious to hear what the Supreme Court will say about states that still ban same-gender couples from getting married. Their ruling is due within the next two weeks. I anticipate that it will be positive, though this court’s right-wing majority has disappointed me before.
Bill and I have talked a bit about what we will do if we can get legally married in Georgia. We had our real wedding almost 35 years ago here in Atlanta, and, frankly, it irritates me when people think that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender folks are waiting for the Supremes to give us permission to marry. We are waiting only for them to outlaw the discrimination. Bill and I got married long ago, and no one could stop us.
Perhaps if we had taken this attitude from the start this process would have moved more swiftly. Recently the local LGBT newspaper announced their “Best of Gay Atlanta” finalists. I was not at all surprised to see that last year’s recipient of the Best House of Worship made the list yet again. (It was not ours.) It is a source of irritation to me that the church that has been recognized by the gay and lesbian community every year is a church that is part of a denomination that will neither marry nor ordain LGBT people. Now, to be clear, that isn’t the fault of this particular congregation. However, when our own community readily accepts this second-class treatment, progress toward equality is hindered.
A number of my feminist friends still complain that the Equal Rights Amendment was killed because of women who didn’t really believe they deserved full equality. Don’t get African-American civil rights activists started about their community’s self-destructive attitudes. In the end, what is needed from all of us is the clear, resolute, and unqualified attitude that we are already equal and will never rest until we are treated like the equal daughters and sons of God that we are. We are not fighting for equality; we are fighting to end discrimination. That change in attitude just might make all the difference in outcomes, so the sooner we get some attitude the better.
Blessings,
Rev. Michael Piazza