Love & Marry.

Bosom friends!

Today I am as happy as I was on the day my dad bought me my first Barbie Dream Glow back in '85.

After a long and painful battle (and a rather bogus one) marriage equality is now up and running in the whole of Florida. 
At last. 
Ding dong the witch is dead.

It is quite the coincidence since hubby and I got married on this very day 5 years ago in South Africa where same sex marriage has been legal since the 30th of November 2006. Hubby is from Cape Town and while we were living there he popped the question and made a respectable lady out of me. I wish I could show you stunning pictures of the wedding venue or a portrait of the two of us kissing in front of a romantic sunset on top of a cliff in Hawaii but it all happened at warp speed. Flash Gordon style.
Here is the short story short.
After 5 years spent together hubby eventually proposed and gave me quite a large Art Deco vintage engagement ring in the shape of a black rose. Stunning. I think I wore it three times total since that piece of jewellery weighs as much as my head. It will be proudly displayed like a religious relic once we move into our new place.
When it came to pick a date we didn't really have much of a choice.
We wanted to be married by the justice of peace who fought to make marriage equality a reality in South Africa. The only problem was that he was leaving to go to Australia for six months a week after our engagement. We couldn't wait that long because we were going to leave South Africa in two months and we needed to finalize our paper work quickly. So hubby booked him right then and there (it was Friday) and called to inform me that we were going to get married the following Wednesday at 3 PM.
Even if I would have loved to, I didn't even have the time to turn into a bridezilla.
So we grabbed our best friends (a lesbian couple who have been through thick and thin with us) and we headed to the minister's house to tie the knot.
Our best friends were also there to act as the two required witnesses.
Once we got to the "wedding venue" (hubby coming from work, me coming from laundry) we sat in the minister's office/open-plan-living-area and started signing papers. How romantic.
Since I am Italian and English is not my first language the justice of the peace had to read the papers to me like I was a child in prep school. Quite surreal.
On top of the special-need-child reading one of our beloved friends found out that the ID she needed to provide to co-sign the documents had expired. So instead of both of their signatures on our papers, we ended up having as our second witness the minister's daughter, who happened to be wondering in her dad's office looking for a snack. The power of love. The whispers in the morning.
Hubby myself and our friends went out for dinner (to a very swanky place nearby) and that was my wedding day in a nut shell. Nut indeed.
It was a day filled with what marriage should be all about though. Love and commitment.

Myself signing our marriage certificate on the 6th of Jan 2010.

I have always found it preposterous and narrow minded the fury with which marriage equality has been fought against by ladies in pearls and tie sporting gents.
Marriage (also called matrimony or wedlock) is a socially or ritually recognized union or legal contract between spouses that establishes rights and obligations between them. The definition of marriage varies according to different cultures, but it is principally an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually sexual, are acknowledged. When defined broadly, marriage is considered a cultural universal.
Thank you Wikipedia for not saying that a marriage is the relationship between a husband and a wife. We are not living in the '50 anymore. Let's move on.

I am not going to rehash all that is being said (and not done) about same sex legal unions for many years. There is no point in giving any relevance to those negative and partial opinions by writing about them. So I would like to point out only a couple of episodes.

In Italy when this topic became popular they even had a "Family Day" happening in Rome where all traditional family supporters met in the main town square to manifest their disapproval towards same sex marriage. The Prime Minister and most of the relevant political figures were there to say that the sanctity of marriage was not to be touched. Mind you 95% of those politicians have already been divorced at least once but still, they felt entitled to parade around to protect the righteousness of the union between a man and a woman. Hypocrisy at historic levels bosom friends. It would have been more believable if Kim Kardashian West had been chosen as the spokes person for the institution of marriage.
Plus the Italian Catholic church is more than happy to welcome devotes from the Mafia organization, but God forbid the Pope welcomes the homos. We are way more dangerous. You'll never know we might kidnap you and give you a makeover against your will.

Here in Florida we have Pam Bondi. She doesn't even deserve one more word from me. Go and look her up on line. Here is a link. C-U-Next-Tuesday Bondi. 
PS: Never trust a woman with a disappearing upper lip when smiling.

Pearls wearing Pam.

What a nerve!

On a lighter note I just saw on TV that TLC is about to premiere My Husband's Not Gay.
Lord have mercy. 
Mormon Lord have mercy.
The program follows four men living in Salt Lake City, Utah, who don't identify themselves as homosexual despite having an attraction to men. Mind you they are all married. Happily so.
They refer to it as SSA, Same Sex Attraction (AKA Supreme Stupidity Affliction). In the special the four couples explore talk about their lifestyle decisions. Stomach ache.
It's causing controversy before it has even aired. No wonder.
Here is the link to the shows promotional clip.
A petition started by Josh Sanders on Change.org says the show "promotes" the false and dangerous idea that gay people can and should choose to be straight in order to be part of their faith communities." Perhaps it was produced by Bondi's legal firm.
Sanders goes on to say he is a "devout Christian" who was told as he was growing up that he should "pray the gay away." In the end, it only caused "despair." Bosom friends there are books that teach you how to not be gay. One of those enlightened boys even compared his penis predilection to liking or not doughnuts. He says even if he loves the glazed ones he is not going to have them everyday because that would be bad for his life. WOW.
Toto I don't think we are in Kansas anymore.
Bonkers.
GLAAD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis released a statement on the group's site, "This show is downright irresponsible. No one can change who they love, more importantly, no one should have to. By investing in this dangerous programming, TLC is putting countless young LGBT people in harm's way." Well said girlfriend Sarah, well said.
I do invite the women who married those on the fence gay/straight guys to have a little more self-respect. Just a little bit.

In my own words marriage should be the pinnacle of love and commitment, not a tool for discrimination. 
I am so wise I could pee myself.

Bosom friends eat, drink and be merry and be free to marry who you LOVE.

Ciao for now.