My Facebook newsfeed is a sky full of rainbows.  Almost everyone I know is celebrating the recent US Supreme Court's decision making same sex marriage legal in all states.  It is lovely to see this outpouring of celebration - although it is making it a little hard to work out who is who on Facebook!

I've been musing about why legalisation of same sex marriage seems to matter so much, even when it is in a foreign country.  Even if you don't happen to know anyone who wants to marry a same sex partner in that country.  I mean of course it matters from an impartial point of view.  Thousands of people will be made a great deal happier by SCOTUS's decision.  Even if I don't know them, that should make me happy. But my joy at this legislation seems different somehow.  It seems personal.

I think the answer is at least partly what the legislation says.  If gay marriage is not recognised in the United States, then that is a great big country which says through its laws that the love of some people is worth less than the love of others.  That the value of your marriage with  depends on whether you and your partner have matching genitals (or rather non-matching genitals).  That is personally insulting, whatever your orientation, even if you don't know anyone in that country who wants to get married and can't.  

2015.06.26 White House Rainbow Colors by tedeytan - https://www.flickr.com/photos/taedc/18588276403/
Downloaded from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Rainbows#/media/File:Celebrating_a_new_America_-lovewins_58242_(18588276403).jpg