Marriage for all
I write this on Sunday, December 09, 2012. Today was the first day that gay and lesbian couples could legally marry in Washington State after the historic election last month. Can those of us who have enjoyed the privilege of being able to marry the person we love even imagine what it must be like for those who have waited for so many years?
In Maryland, weddings will begin on January 1st, in Maine on December 29th. Happy New Year! What a great way to start out the New Year!
These newly married couples will still be denied access to over 1,000 benefits their heterosexual counterparts enjoy such as federal pensions, health insurance and other government benefits. That is due to the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, known as DOMA, baring federal recognition of gay unions.*
I imagine those choosing to be first to marry in these states are doing so because they want to be part of history. I wonder what they are doing to document this moment in history, this historic moment in their lives. Many of us, when we marry, have pictures taken. Some are professional, some are taken by friends. And so often, those photos never get book into books and they are forgotten. Weddings are always special and these are especially special. They deserve to be documented – for those who are marrying and for this moment in history.
Where are your wedding photos? If you were participating in a moment in history, how would you document it?
* On Monday, the SCOTUS decided to take both DOMA and Prop 8’s (California’s amendment baring gay marriages) cases.
Susan Berland is a Certified Personal Photo Organizer in Marin, Sonoma and the San Francisco Bay Area and a member of the Association of Personal Photo Organizers. She specializes in organizing print and digital photos and memorabilia, and creates keepsake albums, displays and gifts so their family stories are documented. Her passion is helping gay and lesbian families tell their family stories so their children have something tangible for the future to show who their family is and that they mattered.
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