The First Marriage
In previous posts I have discussed some of the problems with state-sactioned marriage. I think the state should get out of marriage altogether. But that is not the world we live in. Given that we do have state licensing of marriage, it is only fair that the state not discriminate against any two consenting adults who wish to get married.
The first couple to get married in San Francisco were Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin, two lesbians who have been together for 51 years.
They met in 1950 when both worked for a trade publication in Seattle called Pacific Builder and Engineer. Martin carried a briefcase. Lyon was riveted. Three years later, they moved to San Francisco and set up house. While pulp paperbacks of the day preferred euphemisms such as “The Unfortunate Flesh” or “Warped,” Martin and Lyon opened a joint checking account.
They were occasional visitors to Mona’s and the Paper Doll, but the lesbian bars were vulnerable to police raids. Along with six other women, they formed a social club called Daughters of Bilitis. The name was a reference to a Sapphic love poem. After a year, Martin and Lyon grew restless with the limitations of a secret social lodge and decided to take Daughters of Bilitis in a political direction. By the early 1960s, nearly 200 Daughters of Bilitis chapters had formed around the country.
In 1964, Martin and Lyon helped found the Council on Religion and the Homosexual, an organization that taught clergy members about gay behavior. They campaigned to remove homosexuality from the American Psychiatric Association’s diagnostic manual of mental disorders.
There are those who do not believe that the institution of marriage should be permited for same-sex couples who stay together for 51 years:
“There are lots of old ladies who are friends, but they don’t have the right to turn marriage upside down,” said Randy Thomasson, executive director of Campaign for California Families, one of two conservative groups suing San Francisco’s mayor to stop the marriages. “This was all done to victimize marriage, voters and state law.”
How does one victimize marriage? Marriage is a contract. You can’t beat it up or deprive it of its humanity. The same goes for victimizing state law. Law and marriage are irrational, inanimate entities; they cannot be victimized. Only people can be victimized. And it’s often done by law.
A small band of Christians, ever-mindful of Jesus’ command to love thy neighbor as thyself, showed their love:
The day after the mega-wedding reception at the Hyatt, six protesters are across from City Hall, holding signs that read “GOD HATES FAGS” and “FAGS ARE LAWLESS.” The group is from Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., led by anti-gay activist Fred Phelps Jr.
“Homosexuals are lawless,” Phelps says, gesturing to the line of gay couples. “The law means nothing to them.”
The law means nothing to those who wish to be lawfully married? Perhaps it means too much.
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