https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/qmmunity/2010-11-23/edie-thea/

Edie & Thea

By Julie Gillis, November 23, 2010, 3:15pm, Qmmunity

Perhaps I am too earnest, too naive (likely) but I truly don't get the anti-gay-marriage sentiment. Sure, I understand the actual words the opposition says. But so much of it comes down to, "Ew-that-just-seems-wrong-and-makes-me-feel-weird-so-it-must-not-be-ok and Adam-&-Eve-not-Adam-&-Steve!"

Well, what about Edie & Thea?

All the opposition's words and supposed logic about the history of marriage and legalities and so forth and so on wind up making no real sense when you see a video like this, about said Edie & Thea, an amazing couple of 44 years whose actual Canadian marriage got totally shafted in the US after Thea died:

This video inspired such a feeling of pride in me, for the story, for the people, of the fight to end DOMA for several reasons. On a personal level, it's because the photographs of the couple remind me of photographs of my parents from back in the day. Also? It's because their names are Edie & Thea and they totally look like they were the coolest cats around.

Finally, it's because the couple in question is so clearly and utterly in love, bound to each other, real, connected, happy. They look happy being who they are. Yeah, I think that's really what got me.

Love gets me every time.

Look, no matter how you feel about "marriage" as a cultural institution (and Maud knows there are ample things to detract from it ), no matter if you are for or against the sort of normalizing of relational contracts, of wills, and agreements connected to law (and I know there is debate in the LGBTQ community about the merits of embracing and codifying relationships that are aligned with a hetero-normative model and frankly straight folks would do well to listen to how those debates go because we could learn from them), these two women were clearly in their relationship for the long haul and in love, hardcore and that their union could be viewed as virtually meaningless in the eyes of not only the "government," monolithic as it is, but to actual real people in the day to day world is freaking insane to me. Insane.

I'm glad she's suing.

Given all the things I could wax on about to the thankful for at this time of year where that's what you wax on about? I'm thankful for the reminders to keep working my ass off so that everyone who loves, gets to love, how they love.