Not that there's anything wrong with that...

The issue of marriage equality has been swirling around the public consciousness for some time now. Might as well jump into the fray.

For the uninitiated (I guess there might be a few), the title of this post comes from a Seinfeld episode from the series' fourth season (The Outing) in which an overheard conversation leads a college newspaper writer to believe that Jerry and George are gay. The ensuing attempt to correct the error leads to the catchphrase that has become rather iconic. According to the cast and writers, GLAAD originally had a problem with the show. However, when the phrase "not there's anything wrong with that" was added, it was praised for its even-handed dealing with the issue.

Many more learned people than I have already made the scholarly points about sexuality and marriage equality, so I'll just add my own thoughts and experiences. It seems that there are two major problems at work here. The first is, bluntly, that some straight folks see homosexuality as "icky." Oh, they often hide behind scriptural proscriptions—which I'm convinced are either mistranslated, misread, or went the way of accepted slavery. The point is that so many can't get past the image of what two same-sex people do in the bedroom. And that fixation seems more than a little perverted, I must say. If we can just get past that sick obsession, we will find that we're all people with the same wants, fears, hopes, and failures. And don't get me started on the whole "threat to the institution of marriage" argument. How does the behavior of anybody else threaten how my spouse and I live? Besides which, we heteros have done enough damage on our own, thank you.

The other major issue is actually more systemic, I think. Somehow,  too many of us (and I include myself in a trying-to-evolve sense) set ourselves up as the judge of everyone and everything. One of my favorite lines from the Simpsons (lot of truth to be mined in good sitcoms!) is when Flanders tells Homer that he is going to Christian camp to learn to be more judgmental. Sigh. Too true, Ned. Again, I like to think that I am evolving from that mentality. It's a hard habit to break, though. We so often think that we have life and other people all figured out. And we know just what they should do. Never mind our talent for making a right mess of our own lives. We may never get around to telling them, of course. There's a certain satisfaction to silent condemnation. That was always my modus operandi. Honestly, if we can just accept that we're all in this together and at least start moving toward acceptance, maybe we can get closer to—wait for it...

Love.