Good Ol' Valentine's Day

I have never been one to care much about Valentine’s Day either way, but in coming across this article that appeared at out.com it tickled the fancy of the lovey-dovey, sappy, romantic hidden inside me. I mean how could it not? I’m being given the romantic journeys of 23 wonderfully queer couples; of course my heart will be set aflutter. Especially during this time of year when the majority of Valentine’s Day ad campaigns are targeted to heterosexual couples reflecting the ideal “American love story.” These depictions of what “normal couples” look like are blatantly disregarding, in my mind, the existence of relationships within the queer community that carry just the same amount of nauseatingly cute and substantial love. I will give you an example from my own experience—

On New Years Eve I attended a get together in Dallas. The home was of a couple that plays on a rugby team with my best friend. As the night proceeded, one of the coaches of the team and her partner swung by the house and brought along with them their newly adopted daughter. To this day nothing in me can accurately communicate the overwhelming amount of pure, unadulterated love that filled that room. In that moment I knew that if every senator, pastor, priest, law maker, father, sister, mother, etc. with any anti-gay stance within them were able to see what I was seeing that their minds would be changed. They would be forced to shed any trace of hate. In that moment hate would bow to love.

Looking back on that instance, it pains me that we live in a world today where that caliber of love is actively being denied to same sex couples due to adoption laws. According to the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force in the United States alone six sates carry laws restricting adoption. I find this to be outrageous and irresponsible. But in the throws of my outrage I know that things are being done. Not only are activists working hard on securing nondiscrimination laws in Washington, but also right here on campus members of the queer community and our allies are hosting a Competitive Benefits Rally on Monday, February 14^th to show the need for partner insurance benefits. So bring your chocolates and sweethearts and come make a stand, and who knows maybe you will choose to showcase some of that nauseatingly cute queer love.