Mercy post...kind of

A certain someone complained that he kept getting reminded of the subject of my last post because I hadn't written anything since to push it down the page. So, here you go, it has now been demoted to "old news." However, that's probably the only part of this you're going to like, B.

Today is a celebration. It's a celebration of love, a celebration of equality, a celebration of hopefulness and a celebration of victory over discrimination.

Today was the first day of legal same-sex marriage in California, and it's a day that I feel quite happy and satisfied to be a Californian, a state that is making a stride forward. This is only one of thousands of articles on the event, but it covers all the bases pretty well, if you haven't heard it dozens of times already. And if you feel similarly, here is something you can do to share your thoughts with the governor of your state.

I don't know anyone at this point who is planning to tie the knot, same-sex or opposite-sex, but I'm celebrating each of the people who are taking that step in love, in hope, in a new era of equality, right here from my living room.

I tried to be a lot more personally involved. I volunteered to perfom civil wedding ceremonies for the county clerk's office here because they are expecting more of an increase than the current staff can handle. I got all the information I needed to become a deputy marriage commissioner, but they held the training and swearing-in on a day I couldn't get there, much to my disappointment. I'm hoping there'll be another chance if they continue to need people and the anticipated challenges aren't successful.

And challenges there will be.

I'm not about to dive deeply into the whys and wherefores and my thoughts on people who see this as some sort of threat to them, their lives, their religion or whatever other reasons they hold, and will seek to go backwards. I'm not a part of the gay and lesbian community, I can't speak about it in a meaningful way other than to say how I feel; there are many others you can look to for more than that.

But to those of you who will mount these challenges or seek to support them: I disagree with you, with all my heart, and will be here to rise to that challenge.

It's people like me who will be standing there on the other side of the line you'll draw, engaging in the fight you'll bring, making sure we're heard just as loudly, just as strongly in numbers, if perhaps with less vitriol. Because, to me, your reasons are about intolerance, inequality, unfounded fear and, because it's the opposite of love, hate. If standing against those things isn't worthwhile, I'm not sure exactly what is.