Interesting decision on gay marriage in New Jersey yesterday. Mostly, it was interesting to me because the 4-3 split was between the majority, who said that the legislature has to decide whether to call it marriage or civil unions but has to codify it somehow, and the even more liberal minority that called for gay marriage indistinguishable from hetero marriages.

How cool is that?

After the last few stunning defeats, I thought maybe the moment had passed...Remember the ERA? But maybe not. So maybe gay marriage is creeping down the east coast. Vermont, Massachusetts, New Jersey...Can South Carolina be far behind? LOL...uh...Yes. It can.

And yet...no one is dying from it, no straight marriages have been invalidated...maybe it's NOT the end of civilization. Maybe when New Jersey doesn't turn into a Vast Gay Wasteland, Ohio might consider it. Or even Illinois.

And then I can make an honest woman out of Kwachie. Not that there's not a lot to be said for living in sin, but I'm ready for some governmental validation for our relationship. A year ago, I said I expected gay marriage to be legal in Illinois within 5 years. Then I backed off to 10 years. Now, I think if everything goes smoothly in New Jersey and heterosexuals don't start throwing themselves out of windows in despair, gay marriage once again will prove, in yet another state, to be the sort of mundane unexciting civil rights law that seems like a no-brainer a couple of years down the road.

Well, duh. People who love each other can get married. And the world didn't come to an end. Go figure.