Who Invited Him?

Many of the couples in my life who got married had to decide on a critical factor of the wedding: must they invite that one strange or obnoxious relative that they really don't want there, but feel obligated to invite because he/she is family? In at least two of the weddings I can recall, the unwelcome, but still invited guest was an alcoholic who could have disrupted the solemn proceedings and/or caused a scene at some point in the ceremony or celebration following. Fortunately, none of these fears came to pass.

So why must Uncle George make a scene at one of the happiest day for gay Americans and certainly the most monumental one since Stonewall, if not ever?

According to journalist Rex Wockner, our esteemed (and frankly uninvited) President took time out to wish the newly married couples well:

"The sacred institution of marriage should not be redefined by a few
activist judges... I called on the Congress to pass...an amendment to our Constitution defining and protectingmarriage as a union of a man and a woman as husband and wife. The need for that amendment is still urgent, and I repeat that call today."

Wockner reports that Uncle G.D. made this comment while travelling to commemorate "the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that ended racial segregation in schools." Wockner rightly points to the irony of the situation, or, as Dubya would say, it's ironical.

Not to be outdone by noisy Uncle George, not-so-much Friend of the Family James Dobson proclaimed this day as the moment when "we will look back 20, 30, 50 years from now and recall this day as the day..[when]the documents being issued.. [that] may say 'marriage license' at the top...are really death certificates for the institution [of marriage]."

And again I get to ask how allowing people such as Paul McMahon, 71, and Ralph Hogdon, 69, life partners for 49 years, sounds the death kneel for a sacred institution. Are these people concerned that we might have longer lasting marriages? If queers start lowering the divorce rate, then I guess we really have flouted the institution of marriage. We will have wrecked the institution of 50% divorce rate. If our marriages start lasting, on average, longer than hetereosexual marriages, I guess we will have made a mockery out of their lack of commitment.

In the end, however, the point of all of this is to wish the couples getting married today the best of luck and love. I hope this is the start of something even more wonderful for them and the rest of us. As for Uncle Dubya and neighbor Dobson, who put their names on the guest list? Never mind, hand me that bouquet, I know a perfect receptacle for it.