More Loving in Virginia

We made a commitment to each other in our love and lives, and now had the legal commitment, called marriage, to match. Isn’t that what marriage is? … I have lived long enough now to see big changes. The older generation’s fears and prejudices have given way, and today’s young people realize that if someone loves someone they have a right to marry. Surrounded as I am now by wonderful children and grandchildren, not a day goes by that I don’t think of Richard and our love, our right to marry, and how much it meant to me to have that freedom to marry the person precious to me, even if others thought he was the “wrong kind of person” for me to marry. I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry. Government has no business imposing some people’s religious beliefs over others. … I support the freedom to marry for all. That’s what Loving, and loving, are all about.

– Mildred Loving, “Loving for All”

This quote appears on the cover page of Federal District Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen's decision handed down yesterday in the court case brought by Tim Bostic & Tony London and Carol Schall & Mary Townley against the state of Virginia involving the state's marriage ban for their LGBT citizens. This is a huge and sweeping decision for marriage equality in Virginia. Judge Wright Allen declared not only Virginia's marriage ban to be unconstitutional, she also nullified some of the state's civil code as well as “any other Virginia law that bars same-sex marriage or prohibits Virginia’s recognition of lawful same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions,” as she writes in her decision.

Of course the decision was immediately stayed to give marriage equality foes the chance to appeal her decision which they most definitely will, so marriage equality in Virginia will not be a reality just yet. However, this is still a big day for equality and another nail in the coffin of state sponsored discrimination toward LGBTQ's. Congratulations Virginians! Happy Valentine's Day!

Thank you Google!

Thank you to the folks at Google for showing how a corporation should act when faced with countries that legalize discrimination, inequality, brutality, and homophobia! Below are a couple of screenshots that I took this morning of the search pages Google is currently using for searches worldwide including places like Uganda, the Middle East and yes, Sochi, Russia. Are you paying attention Coca Cola, Dow, McDonalds, Atos, GE, Omega, Visa, Panasonic, P&G, and Samsung? At least Google is showing a backbone. How about you?

A Bit of Housecleaning

I've been doing a bit of housecleaning to both of my blogs. With Rainbow Reflections, I actually deleted quite a few posts from the past years that dealt with political elections and posts that I felt were no longer relevant. They were just cluttering up the blog and making it harder to find blog posts that might be more informative, so this blog has a much shorter list of posts now.

I've also changed the look of the blog and added a few new gadgets that weren't here before. Look for a few new things that might be added in the coming days also.

Life has changed a lot since the last time I posted my thoughts here. In the past year and a half, my partner and I moved the family to a small community in Northern Ontario for several different reasons. One was to be closer to my partner's parents. Another was to get away from the noise and pollution of the city. We now live out in the bush (Canadian for living in the country). We regularly see rabbits hopping through our yard and eagles. ravens, and hawks flying overhead looking for a good rabbit meal. On clear nights we see a million stars shining brightly in the sky because there are no city lights to dim their brightness. We can go for walks and see fox, wolf and lynx tracks in the snow and sometimes we can stand outside and listen to the coyotes howl in the distance. I do miss being able to walk to the nearest Tim Horton's for a cup of coffee. We can't do that since the nearest town is almost fifty miles away and we only go there once or twice a month for groceries and other needed items. I also really miss the friends we made down south, but the fresh air, clear skies, and country living are really wonderful.

We have also found many new and some old friends here, and we have been made to feel a part of the community by many. I think we made the right decision for our family to move here, even with the over four feet of snow we have in the yard now. ;) Just look at our front yard below.

I'll be posting more about our lives here in Northern Ontario in the next few weeks and months, so check back often to see how a blended family survives in the bush of Northern Ontario.