A lovely party for a lovely couple

Last night, Outlaws threw a fabulous engagement party celebrating the engagement of two of our dear friends. The turn-out was great and the toasts made me teary-eyed. It's fantastic to celebrate the love between two individuals, while also bringing awareness to the fact that currently, many loving couples are not able to be recognized by the government in the way that heterosexual couples can be.

While to those of us who are single, Valentine's Day and the surrounding celebration of "love" may seem like a Hallmark holiday especially aimed at making us feel lonely, sometimes it really is wonderful to celebrate the love between couples who truly care about each other, make sacrifices for each other, and want to spend the rest of their lives together. Especially with the recent Michigan Court of Appeals decision regarding domestic partnership benefits, all I can do is stand back and admire the strength of LGBT couples (and individuals!) who face this sort of discrimination every day and yet continue to fight on for equal rights and opportunities.

I've been an active ally of the LGBT rights movement since I made my first gay best friend, back in high school. When I saw him struggle with family issues, the ability to come out at all to anyone in a very socially conservative small town high school, along with all the other things that sixteen year olds have to deal with on a daily basis, I felt so proud to be his friend, and had so much respect for the choices he made and the maturity with which he handled his situation. Ever since then, with every gay friend I have made, I have always been struck by how much they have had to overcome, and how well they have done so. But most importantly, I look at them as friends, like any other friend, and I want more than anything to defeat those who would try to hurt them. To me, the idea that anyone could look at my friends, without any information aside from their sexual orientation, and make a judgment call that they should not be able to get married, or should be thought of in any way as unequal to heterosexuals under the law, is utterly repulsive. I cannot stand the idea that people impose their religious values into the state's laws in order to keep my friends from having the right to marry the people they love. I'm proud of each and every one of my friends, gay or straight, and I love them and will do whatever I can to make sure that their lives are enjoyable and full of love.

In Judaism, at the end of every Passover seder, we say "Next year in Jerusalem"- I personally interpret this as, let us hope that next year, there will be peace on earth and all will be happy. I'd like to think perhaps, as Freedom to Marry Week draws to a close, "Next year there will be marriage equality." While I'd imagine the probability of true marriage equality may not be achieveable in merely a year, I sure like the idea that one day it will happen.

So congratulations, Nick and Joey, on your commitment to each other, the love you have found in each other, and your willingness to publicly declare your love. Thank you for allowing Outlaws to share in your celebration of that love. And thanks to all of my friends and family, for showing me how to be open minded and how to be a good friend. Happy belated Valentines Day to all, especially my dear friends in Outlaws!