The Rainbow Connection

Two summers ago, we were in New York state when their legislature passed gay marriage. I remember sitting on the couch, looking out over one of the Finger Lakes, when the radio announced it — and almost immediately, in the just clearing sky, two rainbows arched across the lake. It was magical.

I feel that way today. After years of not understanding why my state seemed to have abandoned its progressive past, after the last two years of a divisive and mean-spirited constitutional amendment debate, and after I have seen my gay and lesbian friends consistently encounter discrimination at every turn, I feel like we have turned a corner. I wasn't alive (or at least old enough to be aware) of the civil rights struggles in the past. But I can feel proud to have been part of this one.

To Beatrix, people fall in love and get married, and it doesn't matter to whom. To her, our friends Mr. Bob and Mr. Jan are just as married as her uncle Robert and aunt Janet, and we have never said anything to correct that. Now we don't have to.

Thank you, Minnesota, for getting it right. I really love you right now.