I sit here, in my room, knowing I am sat on the edge of history. Equal marriage eve. Tomorrow same sex couples can finally get married. At last, this is what we’ve waited for, for so long.
I remember being sat here on 5th Feb last year watching BBC parliament (one of the few times, I have to admit!) waiting for the votes to come in as to whether the equal marriage bill would pass one of it’s first hurdles, obviously it did and here I sit again, knowing tomorrow it comes into force.
I’m a feelings person, I will talk about how I feel until the cows come home, but this stirs something different, I can’t put those feelings into words. If I force myself too, maybe thankfulness or relief come to mind! Most of all, I have this feeling in my heart, of passion which, over the last year or so I have come to recognise quite often. Although we now have equal marriage rights in the eyes of the law, there is still a long way to go when it comes to changing people’s attitudes.
It is still illegal to get married within a Church of England, which means I cannot get married in the Church I have grown up in, don’t get me wrong I am absolutely over the moon that equal marriage is now legal, and I’ll be celebrating, but it does come with a slight sting, for me anyway.
As Stonewall’s new slogan ‘Lots to do’ says, there is still plenty of work to be done. I still find myself with my head in my hands listening to Christians on the tv, radio, and through blogs, and articles stating marriage should be between one woman and one man, that homosexual relations are sinful, and that a gay marriage just “isn’t the same”.
My absolute dream is to one day walk down the aisle of my home Church, with a woman I love having being married by a Church of England vicar. I firmly believe and hope that, one day that’ll happen. Until then, I’ll be using that passion to make sure I do everything I can to make that a reality, for me, and for many others.
Lucy x