Bill Welch, the mayor of State College, PA, presided over what some think may be the Pennsylvania’s largest same-sex commitment ceremony ever over the weekend. All four of the couples (2 male, 2 female) had ties to my alma mater – Penn State University – which is based in State College.
This is amazing to me on many levels. When I was at Penn State, there was a Gay & Lesbian student organization, but it was very small and relatively unimportant – due to the fact that most gay Penn Staters were in the closet (like me). Also, State College is smack dab in the middle of the conservative and rural central part of Pennsylvania – which is about as Republican red as you can get. Because of the huge student population, State College is more liberal by definition, but when I was in school, the full-time residents of State College were usually as conservative as the rest of Central Pennsylvania. They don’t call it “Pennsyltucky” for nothing…
So the fact that a small-town Pennsylvania mayor could preside over a same-sex commitment ceremony in the conservative part of the state really gives me hope for the future. Of course, a few “Christian” groups felt the need to protest this heresy. I am amazed that these groups have so much time and energy to spend fighting against equality for gays and lesbians, but have NO PROBLEM with the U.S. fighting an unjust war in Iraq – which we got into based on lies – in which 4000 Americans have died. These asshats are unbelievable, but hopefully their time has ended and a new day is dawning…
Read the full story from Towleroad here.
This is amazing to me on many levels. When I was at Penn State, there was a Gay & Lesbian student organization, but it was very small and relatively unimportant – due to the fact that most gay Penn Staters were in the closet (like me). Also, State College is smack dab in the middle of the conservative and rural central part of Pennsylvania – which is about as Republican red as you can get. Because of the huge student population, State College is more liberal by definition, but when I was in school, the full-time residents of State College were usually as conservative as the rest of Central Pennsylvania. They don’t call it “Pennsyltucky” for nothing…
So the fact that a small-town Pennsylvania mayor could preside over a same-sex commitment ceremony in the conservative part of the state really gives me hope for the future. Of course, a few “Christian” groups felt the need to protest this heresy. I am amazed that these groups have so much time and energy to spend fighting against equality for gays and lesbians, but have NO PROBLEM with the U.S. fighting an unjust war in Iraq – which we got into based on lies – in which 4000 Americans have died. These asshats are unbelievable, but hopefully their time has ended and a new day is dawning…
Read the full story from Towleroad here.
1 comment:
Let's hope this is a sign of (gradually) changing attitudes toward equality for all tax-paying citizens.
Mark :-)
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