The sweet sounds of Pachelbel's
Canon filled the City Council Chamber at Berkeley's historic Old City Hall as
Karl Reeh and Mugur Anghel, Leland Traiman and Stewart Blandon, and Melinda
Paras and Barbara Englis became the first same-sex couples to be married in
Berkeley after the U.S. Supreme Court threw out Prop. 8 and made marriage
equality the law of the land in California.
The date was Oct. 11 - not
coincidentally, the 22nd anniversary of the day Berkeley became the
first city in the country to pass a domestic partners law – a stopgap measure
that, happily, is no longer necessary.
Karl and Mugur were married by
Councilman Kriss Worthington, Leland and Stewart were married by Councilman Darryl
Moore, and Melinda and Barbara were married by School Board Director Judy
Appel.
All three weddings were different,
reflecting the wishes of the participants. Karl and Mugur wrote their own
ceremony, as did Leland and Stewart. But Melinda and Barbara chose to repeat
the same traditional wedding vows they took 18 years ago, almost two decades before
marriages like theirs were recognized by the state.
All three couples were beaming with
happiness, and there were more than a few sentimental sniffles, too. But to
tell the truth, I wasn't watching the brides and grooms.
I was watching their kids – who,
after all, are the people Vladimir Putin says he's trying to protect by passing
laws that would forcibly take children away from their gay or Lesbian parents.
Karl and Mugur are childless, but
Leland and Stewart made their son Julian, 14, and daughter Rosalinda, 8, part
of their wedding party – Julian as Best Man and Rosalinda as Flower Girl.
Melinda and Barbara's daughter
Lorena, 14, was Maid of Honor for their ceremony, accompanied by her best
friend, Maire O'Sullivan.
You should have seen the look on
Lorena's face as she watched her mothers get married. She was SO proud of them.
This day was her triumph, too.
As for Rosalinda, an adorable
little moppet with a smile a mile wide, she was clearly having the time of her
life. She giggled and bounced and danced as she watched her fathers tie the
knot. Her big brother occasionally had to reel her in and calm her down, but
nothing was going to stop her from celebrating.
After the ceremony, as I watched
her race across City Hall's front lawn, gleefully shouting
"DadEEEEEE!" and leaping into Stewart's arms, it was obvious that
there's no way she needs protection from the two men she calls Daddy.
What she needs is protection from
people like Vladimir Putin.
If, as most religions teach us,
every human being is a child of God, it seems to me that discriminating against
people for simply being the way God made them is blasphemy.
It's also bad public policy. We
should be encouraging stable long-term relationships, not making it harder for them.
But mostly, I have a human
reaction. It's so hard to find love in this sad world. If someone is lucky
enough to find it, I say more power to them.
Or, as Pope Francis says, who am I
to judge?
So whatever your sexual orientation
- straight, gay, or somewhere in between - I hope you're with someone you love.
And if not, I hope you find that special someone soon.
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