Welcome to the Club
June 26, 2015 I called my daughter and congratulated her on LGBTQ+ community winning the civil right to legally be married in this country. We both laughed as I said, “Now if it doesn’t work out, you will lose 50% of your stuff, just like the rest of us. Welcome to the club.”
Fast forward to January 2025. My daughter has been married for 6 years and has been with her wife a total of 13 years. On this cold winter day we are talking on the phone but now our call is anything but laughter. It is fear. Fearful of an unknown future for the LGBTQ+ minority group. There is talk of reversing the Marriage Equality Act, making same sex marriages illegal.
My daughter starts with, “I’m afraid my marriage will be void or I will be forced to get a divorce.”
Before she can say anything I find myself saying, “You don’t give into this crap. You stay married. If the government says your marriage didn’t happen, never existed, you stay married. You decide, not Trump or any other ass in office. You and Bay decide if you are married. They cannot take away your love, not ever.”
After my pep talk to her, we get off the phone and I cannot believe in 2025 this is happening. Don’t believe in same sex marriage? Great, don’t marry someone the same sex as you. Very simple. It offends you? Really? Out of all the upheaval and injustice in this world, two people who love each other and are wanting to make a lifetime commitment to each other is the hill you are wanting to make a stand on? Really?
My daughter and her wife love each other. They support each other. They work together as a team and are stronger together. The way they look at each other, it is love. They just happen to be 2 women who met and fell for each other. I’ve met some amazing couples from the LGBTQ+ community who are married and look at their partner the same way my girls look at each other. It makes my heart happy when people genuinely care for one another. As humans we are designed to respond and thrive through these emotional connections. We are not designed to be alone and isolated or to live in fear or shame. As a community, let us celebrate all marriage equally. Love yourself and love one another. After all, it is 2025 and love is really love.
