Today I celebrate 14 years of being married to my darling husband, Donnie. Our ‘marriage’ is, technically, a ‘civil partnership’ because same-sex couples could only legally get married in the UK in 2014. Next month we will convert our partnership into a marriage with just a couple of quick signatures in a Westminster Council office. No frills. No spills. We do so for no other reason than to gain full marriage rights for our relationship in the US as my dear husband is both American (by birth) and British (by marriage). Currently we don’t enjoy such rights there. Our decision, however, is also propelled by the deeply worrying erosion of equal rights fostered by many governments across the world but, most notably, of late, in America. Women, people of colour, members of the wider LGBTQ+ family (to name but a few communities) have, in just a blink of an eye, seen their human rights - to love who and how they choose; to have the same chances in life as others; to hold domain over their own bodies - attacked by a new administration in the US that seems hellbent on not just denying equal rights but destroying them. So, for us, being a ‘fully’ married gay couple - occupying the very same status as Mr. and Mrs. Ordinary who live across the street with their 2.4 children and their Volvo - is a somewhat political act. A quiet form of resistance, if you will. We, as a gay couple, only want (or deserve) what everyone else in the world has the right to want (and have). No more. No less. No Trans, Black or Queer he, she or they wants to be treated any differently from anyone else. They just want what we all fucking want which is a peaceful, happy, prosperous life. One shared with whoever you choose to share that with, carving out a life with minds and bodies that only you control, unflustered by myopia or bigotry. One day we’ll all have that but, for now, we simply don’t. So, my loves (of all colours, flavours and fancies), now is the time to buckle the fuck up, hunker the fuck down and let the tangerine tempest pass. Happy Anniversary, Bean! How I love you so. #lgbtq #loveislove #lovewins #gayhusbands #gaymarriage #gayrights
04.02 15:58