Ron sent this e-mail to family and friends last week:
Hi everybody,
As most of you already know, Bill and I got married in Santa Ana, CA on July 1. I had to be in Anaheim the last week of June for the American Library Association Annual Conference and it just made sense for us to get married then rather than try to work with everyone’s schedules and pick a date. Bill flew out to CA on June 30 and we got married by a magistrate at the historic Santa Ana Courthouse in a nice little ceremony. Then we drove down to Dana Point and spent July 1 – July 5 there and out on Catalina Island. We had a fantastic time.
Even though Texas does not recognize our marriage we felt it was important for us take this step. Bill and I are legally married in California and the marriage is recognized by the states of New York & Massachusetts. Other states such as New Jersey, Oregon, Washington, New Mexico, Iowa, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Maine appear likely to support recognition of same-sex marriage at some level. As we celebrate all things American during the month of our nation’s Independence Day, particularly our founding principles of freedom and fairness, a recently released study finds that indeed people who enjoy more freedom tend to be happier.
Connecting the dots, George Rodriguez writes an article in the Los Angeles Times, “Gay marriage: the key to happiness?” and says, “How exactly, you ask, is gay marriage connected with ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’?…social tolerance ‘broadens the range of choices available to people,’ thereby enhancing happiness for both the tolerant and the intolerant alike.”
Even after 14 anniversaries, Bill and I felt a new joy as we got a marriage license, said our vows and re-exchanged the rings we had made in Cabo San Lucas several years ago. All of us together are an extended family where none of us have to give up our differences or hide them in order to be loved and treated equally. Imagine, by the time Dylan and Lane [now toddlers] are adults even the state of Texas may recognize the marriage of their great-uncles RP & Billiam.