No exaggeration: We have never been hit with as many press releases in such a short amount of time as we were last week upon news breaking that the Supreme Court of the United States chose tolerance over ignorance, tomorrow over yesterday, and your lesbian aunt instead of your grotesque conservative uncle (which is extra funny since, for a lot of you, the latter sort of looks like Antonin Scalia in cross trainers).
Typically, the general Media Farm rule is that if there is something nice to say, then it is probably best to shut up. But when an overwhelmingly positive story like the federal nod to gay marriage consumes every corner of the reportorial echo chamber, from social media to newspapers of record, it’s actually quite moving. On that note, here are some positive press blurbs that the Dig received from gay rights advocates and talking heads of all kinds. We could have gone for pages—the press releases are still showing up by the ream—but for the sake of an abbreviated survey of public opinion across the spectrum, from capitalist opportunism, to genuine excitement, to the Grand Old Party …
–The Knot, which makes millions off of the American obsession with matrimony, understandably looked to bank on the opportunity. If you don’t believe they love gay marriage, they brought one of the other guys from *NSYNC to prove it …
The featured celebrities on the cover of The Knot LGBTQ Edition, Lance Bass and husband Michael Turchin, exemplify a personalized wedding and many of the trends revealed in The Knot LGBTQ Weddings Study. The magazine allows an all-access, VIP, backstage pass to the wedding of the former *NSYNC member.
-Clever as usual, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker further separated himself from his Republican Party …
For me, the issue of marriage equality is personal. I’m pleased the Commonwealth has already recognized same-sex marriages in our state, and with today’s Supreme Court decision every American citizen across the nation will have equal protection under the law and the right to marry the person they choose.
-Evan Wolfson, president of the group Freedom to Marry, gushed over the “momentous victory for freedom, equality, inclusion, and above all, love,” but not without emphasizing the difficult work that lies ahead …
The movement will continue to harness the power of the marriage conversation and win in the work ahead – including passage of a federal civil rights bill, securing state and local protections against discrimination, tending to the needs of our youth and our seniors, and ensuring that the lived experience of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people is fulfilling, good, inclusive, and equal throughout the land.
-Craig Coogan of the Boston Gay Men’s Chorus hit a high note …
This is a momentous day for the country … The freedom to marry the person you love is precious, and having that relationship affirmed by our society and our government is essential … The Boston Gay Men’s Chorus was proud to be a part of the freedom to marry movement in Massachusetts, the birthplace of same-sex marriage in the U.S. In song, we shared the stories of our lives and our loves with state lawmakers and on stages across the Commonwealth, and had the honor of singing at one of the first same-sex weddings in the country.
-And then, of course, there was the not-so-openly-gay men’s chorus of conservative Republicans. To quote them is to float them, and so we have chosen to do neither. Well, maybe just one, since presidential candidate and future Rolaids spokesman Mike Huckabee (pronounced: My Cock-A-Bee), according to Mother Jones, “Set the Bar Really High for the Worst Reaction to the Same-Sex Marriage Ruling.” Here he goes comparing Obergefell v. Hodges to the court’s mid-19th Century decision to uphold fugitive slave laws …
For a lot of believers, the question comes, do we have civil disobedience, or do we have Biblical disobedience? For many of us, civil disobedience—when we believe that the civil government has acted outside of nature, and nature’s god, outside of the bounds of the law, outside of the bounds of the Constitution—we believe that it’s the right and the moral thing to do … I mean seriously, I don’t know of anyone who believes that the Supreme Court made the right decision in Dred Scott.
Dig Staff means this article was a collaborative effort. Teamwork, as we like to call it.
