Swamp Quote of the Day

Here at The Swamp, we heartily support same-sex marriage. In fact, we had one! On October 18, 2003, after the court decision and before the legislation, we got married. At the time we did it because we wanted to support the cause and be one more couple who took marriage vows. What we didn’t expect was that it would change our relationship so substantially. We are now family in the eyes of our friends, families, co-workers and our government.

Barack Obama endorsing same-sex marriage. It really shouldn’t be such a big deal in 2012 but it is monumental.

“I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married.”

Our little Vancouver Adventure & Anniversary Celebrations

We have been in Vancouver since Monday when I had my marathon 3.5-hour specialist appointment. Given that today is our 8^th wedding anniversary[1] and that I have to be at an early training session tomorrow morning. We found a reasonably priced hotel[2]. We are staying at the Sheraton Wall Centre. Here is what we have done in some particular order:

• Got lost trying to find the ‘Rapid Access Clinic’[3] in St. Paul’s hospital. WE went to the Thurlow building when we needed to be in the Burrard building. For those of you who have ever spent time at St. Paul’s what is it about the elevators? Some of them only seem to run every 10-15 minutes. It was bizarre. Also everyone seems to be running there plus there were tons of people.
• We had dinner at the hotel restaurant. It was very good. I had the ever-reliable tenderloin steak, which was outstanding. Deb had a salad and a vegetarian panini. There were zero vegetarian options on the menu and she had to ask what they could do for her. It seems strange in a city like Vancouver that there would such a dearth of vegetarian options.
• We went swimming last night at the hotel. It was great. I swam several lengths[4] and then chilled in the hot tub. I was trying to teach Deb how to sit and balance on a flutter board under water. I am nowhere near as graceful doing that as I once was. It was very relaxing. We were starving when we came back to the room and ordered nachos.
• I got up early and went to work early. I had a lot to do and I was able to get it done today. Work is feeling really good these days so I am a happy camper.
• Deb sent me a huge bouquet of flowers today at work. It is so nice to get flowers at work!
• Deb picked me at work and we went out for dinner. We had Japanese food!! It has been years, literally, since I have eaten Japanese. We had tempura vegetables and prawns. I had agedashi tofu[5], and miso soup. It was divine.
• Now we are back at the hotel watching Dancing with the Stars.
• Don’t forget to check out Derek Miller’s blog excerpts in this month’s Reader’s Digest.

Perry parry

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[1] Squee!!! I cannot believe we have been married that long! It seems like just last year we achieved marriage equality. Although same-sex marriage has only been in legislation since 2005 (thank you Paul Martin and the Liberal Party of Canada) it seems much more recent. We did marry in the period between the court decision and the approval of the legislation.

[2] Not a boutique hotel.

[3] Considering I waited more than 6 months for my appointment I would challenge the ‘rapid’ part of that name!

[4] Go me!

[5] Deb even tried some!

Same-sex marriage prevails

Focus on the Family has decided to give up fighting same-sex marriage. I guess all those fundamentalist Christians, who predicted the demise of marriage if it was extended to the gays, has accepted defeat. The polls show that a clear majority of people in the United States now supports same-sex marriage. As it becomes legal in more and more States people are finally seeing that extending marriage to same-sex couples did nothing to harm ‘traditional’ marriage.

Prior to the court decision legalizing same-sex marriage in Canada, I never really gave much thought to getting married. I had accepted that it was not going to be possible for me. I was content with the commitment ceremony we had in 2000. Something shifted in me when the court decision came down in BC. We decided to get married in October 2003. Part of the reason we did get married was to add yet another couple to the numbers of married homosexuals.

Even though we thought it was a perfunctory act, it nonetheless changed the quality of our relationship. We began to feel more like a family. It seemed to deepen the connection and responsibility we felt for each other. No longer were we ‘just living together’ we were actually a married couple, recognized by the state. When I changed my last name to Deb’s the transformation was complete. We had become a family.

While Focus on Family is no longer going to pick on us they will continue to focus a great deal of their energy on anti-choice initiatives. However, the head of Focus on the Family is encouraging right-wing Christians to work on their own marriages. He points out that high divorce rates amongst conservative politicians. Personally, I would welcome this group and the people it represents turning their energies in on themselves rather than trying to tell the rest of us how to live our lives.

My new blog!

Well, I have been thinking about starting a blog for some time – so here goes!

So a little about me. I am a married lesbian. My partner Deb and me live in the GVRD (soon to be Metro Vancouver!!) with our 8 dogs. Most of our dogs are rescues and you will read lots about our dogs no doubt. I am an unabashed facebook addict and I love technology.