However, this is nowhere near the end.
For one, people are calling this gay marriage; someone is not necessarily gay because they are in a same sex relationship/marriage. It may seem like such a small thing, but it is an important distinction to make.
Secondly, there are way too many places where being not straight is illegal, to the point of being punishable by death. Let me repeat that - falling in love is punishable by death.
I'm going to now give you some quotes. I won't give the sources, but these are things that have been said to me or in a conversation where I've heard it said.
"I don't care what people get up to in their bedroom, just keep it away from children!"
"I get it, you're gay, shut up about it already!"
Allow me to direct you to this which shows you exactly how pointless those statements are; to repeat one of the comments on the post, there is an advert for toilet paper on that list. If you want LGBTQ+ people to keep their sexuality hidden, maybe heterosexuality should be hidden too.
I also want to point out that falling in love has nothing to do with what happens in the bedroom, on the kitchen counters, in the hallway, against a wall, on the dining room table, or on the stairs. When I find out a friend is dating, I'll ask for details like how they met, what the person is like, how happy (or not) my friend is; I have never thought, or even asked, "So how are things in the bedroom?"
Is same sex marriage a victory? Hell yes!
Is it the end of the journey? No.
When it is no longer punishable by death to be LGBTQ+, the journey will be over. When an LGBTQ+ person can hold hands with their partner without fear, the journey will be over. When there is no prejudice and discrimination within LGBTQ+ communities, let alone from non-LGBTQ+ people, the journey will be over.
Whether someone is lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (in regards to sexuality and gender), intersex, asexual, pansexual, demisexual, greysexual, homoromantic, biromantic, aromantic, panromantic, demiromantic, greyromantic... why should love, attraction, or lack of, be treated as something to be hidden? Something that needs explaining to children? Something that needs to be punished, made illegal? Something that is sexualised, fetishised?
Same sex marriage is definitely something to celebrate, but it is just one step on a very fragile ladder.
My name is Ellana. I'm pansexual panromantic, and I'm also somewhere on the asexual spectrum but I'm still working out how. Marriage equality is amazing, but the fight towards true equality is far from over.
E