Married Life Suits Me

Ahhh, married life. A friend sent us a small little piece of décor that states, “I love us,” and I have to say that I couldn't have said it better myself. I love us in our tiny space with moving boxes for tables, I love us in our endless conversations, and I love us in the peaceful silence of just being together. All I thought I knew about love, happiness, and peace has been blown away by this Love I now call home—and now wifey.

I also love us in this city; I love that others around us see us as…well…as a legitimate us. I love that the girls at work threaten to tell my wife, when I won’t stop doing something in particular. I love that that customers ask about my wife’s school and our new “flat”. I love that we can file our taxes together and mark “spouse” on random forms. I didn't anticipate the true difference I would feel living in a city that legally and structurally acknowledges us. Our relationship, our love, our laughter, and our sheer enjoyment of one another’s company has not changed, except perhaps in growth, but it is a nice feeling to be acknowledged. I am truly grateful.

While my own feelings of peace are rapturous, my heart is heavy for my LGBT brothers and sisters in places such as Uganda, Russia, and unfortunately, I could add a few of our own United States to this list. I cannot imagine the terror or discouragement they feel. Because of the fear of violent discrimination, imprisonment, or in some cases, even death, they are not free to experience the us feeling that surrounds me every day.  As I am keenly aware of my own freedom in this aspect, I am also challenged to speak up for those, in all cases, whose voices have been silenced.

I wasn't always this free to be myself; having grown up in a society openly unaccepting of that which I felt I was, I understand, to a small degree, what the struggle feels like, although notably and gratefully without the elements of violence many of these now face. Many thoughts swirl in my head. It leaves me wondering what it might take for us to reach a point of nondiscrimination, nonviolence, and peace. Can WE reach a point where we can accept our diversity within the fabric of our interconnectedness?