In general, I don’t really think that this blog is a very appropriate place for me to talk about politics. However, I don’t actually think that the legalization of same-sex marriage should be a political issue*, because it’s a human & civil rights issue. Which, I guess is a political issue, if you live in a country whose laws differentiate between and oppress certain groups of citizens.

I have to believe that Americans won’t continue to let the United States be that kind of country for very much longer. It is, indeed, time.

*I also don’t think that it should be a religious issue, (um, and let’s pretend to ignore the complet lack of Church-State separation in American marriage laws for a moment) except that as a practicing Christian, I actually find it impossible to find a valid Christianity-based argument against civil rights, including a valid Christianity-based argument against same-sex marriage. Religious arguments for same-sex marriage, however, are much easier for me to understand.

After catching up on sleep, getting trapped on the UWS by a non-event hurricane, and then running around town trying to see and do a long weekend’s worth of people and things in a single day, I finally woke up this morning, on my last day in Manhattan, feeling totally overwhelmed by it all. I’ve been carrying it around as a literal physical sensation all day. We were all a small part of something much bigger than ourselves.

I probably won’t share anything but photos about it on the internet after this. Because the truth is that I’m a kind of shockingly private person when it comes to my emotions (most people who know me don’t realize this because I’m someone who is unabashedly open about experiences, which is different than being open to how those experiences make one feel) but this morning I came across a passage in the book I’m reading right now that sums it up pretty well: “She wanted to cry but couldn’t. The feeling was too deep.”

So please go read the coverage over at A Practical Wedding, because Meg does an amazing job of capturing it – she’s already written about it here, here, here, and here – and has more coming later this week.

I do want to say thank you, SO MUCH, to everyone who came out, to everyone who bought tote bags, everyone who donated to our drive for Lambda, and especially to everyone who helped make it happen. The full sponsor list, with links, is over here. These are all great people. If only we were all lucky enough to work with a crew like that every day, the world would be a happier and more fun place. Please go out and hire them for your weddings.

But mainly, I want to say thank you to Meg. She took a little idea of mine and made (and made me make) it into something huge. And more importantly, she has built this amazing community that rose up and banded together around it, who not only said yes when we asked, but who said yes before we even had to ask, in many cases volunteering time & goods & services we didn’t even know we needed. It was beyond an honor to have my name at the top of the poster with hers.

Photo: the YNY! vendors toasting in between the wedding and the dance party, by Emily Takes Photos

photo of Meg & me sitting at a bar in fancy shoes: Emily Takes Photos

Also – we announced our couples this morning, and could not be more excited about them. Yay Leanne & Anne and Aaron & Cory!

I’m an unabashedly-vocal supporter of marriage equality rights, and so when New York state passed their marriage equality bill two weeks ago, I really wanted to do something other than drink champagne to celebrate (of course, some champagne was consumed as well.) So I reached out to Meg at A Practical Wedding, and she turned my little idea into a big one, and well, a lot of detail hashing, refining, and some favor asking later, that little idea has turned into the fantastic reality of not one wedding, but two awesome events (one of which involves FIVE weddings. ahhhhhh!)

Yay! I am so happy to be working with Meg and her killer team over at APW, and Kathleen of Jeremy and Kathleen, who designed all of the crazy-awesome graphics, as well as a million other amazing helpers & sponsors who we’ll be announcing over the next few weeks. For now, you should head over to APW to read more about what exactly we’re doing, how you’ll be able to attend, and other ways you can help us celebrate the radness that is New York becoming a more equal place to live.

And because we want more people (including ourselves, ahem California) to live in places where everyone’s love is treated equally under the law, we’re going to be using our nighttime event to raise money, hopefully an awful lot of it, for Lambda Legal, “a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV through impact litigation, education and public policy work.”

And if you’re going to be in New York in August? I would love to see you there. It’s going to be an incredible day.