I now pronounce you husband and husband...

When I heard that Argentina had become the first South American country to legalize gay marriage, the song "Don't cry for me Argentina" ran through my head. Great song about a great country, which now joins seven other great countries that recognize same sex marriage: Belgium, Canada, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, and Sweden.

There are parts of Mexico and the United States where same sex marriages are performed and considered legal. That shows some positive initiative, though I will never get over the shock of California repealing gay marriage the year President Obama was elected. It was as though the U.S. could only handle one civil step forward at a time and having a black President trumped gay marriage in Calli.

I think its hilarious that the state of Oregon doesn't allow gay marriage, unless you're on the Coquille reservation. The Coquille tribe is recognized as a sovereign nation and perform gay marriages, despite being located within a state that doesn't recognize them. Its confusing that within the borders of a single country, there are states where gay marriage is legal and recognized, other states that recognize gay marriage but won't perform them, and states that neither recognize or allow same sex unions at all.

That phrasing is ridiculous, too. Same sex union vs. gay marriage. They're basically the same thing, its just one doesn't use the word "marriage" so that tight@ss people don't shrink themselves in to non-existence at hearing it used in an acceptable manner next to the word "gay."

Yet, this simple distinction has allowed same sex unions to flourish in more places around the world. Civil unions are recognized and performed in Andorra, Austria, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Greenland, Hungary, Luxembourg, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Slovenia, Switzerland, Wallis and Futuna, the United Kingdom, Uruguay, and parts of Australia, Mexico, Venezuela, and the United States. That's quite a chunk of the world allowing gay people to live like an old married couple, as long as they don't use that word.

Like gay marriage, civil unions are recognized in places that don't allow them to be performed, like... well, ironically, just the Isle of Man. And I think that's the crux of the matter. I suspect, though admit I don't know for sure, that the number of men who are against gay marriage far exceeds the number of women who are opposed. Its a hunch, but I bet I'm right.

Gay marriage has been around for centuries, there's evidence of it as far back as the Ming dynasty - more irony, since China now appears to be one of the least tolerant countries in the world with respect to homosexuality. Nowhere is as intolerant as the Middle East, where homosexuality is punishable by death... interesting, as Mesopotamia is purported to be where mankind first came from, meaning homosexuality would have originated there, too.

I have never understood what the uproar was all about. I've always viewed two people loving each other as a good thing... certainly not something I'd be offended by, let alone consider killing anyone for. If its two consenting adults, what's the problem? How does Adam and Steve affect you anymore than Adam and Eve would? It seems to boil down to the idea of sexual relations and then I have to wonder, why are people so obsessed with other people's sex lives? Perverts!

Perhaps the most hypocritical aspect of all is that most men are not bothered in the least by the thought of two women together. In fact, for many, the idea of Eve and Eva together is a well cherished fantasy. Talk about your double standard! What that says to me is that its the idea of two men having sex that's the real problem and all I can wonder is, again, why are men thinking so much about two guys making love?

Kinda begs a whole 'nother question, doesn't it?

Personally, I think our world could use a lot more love in it... and as long as its amongst adults, I don't care who's doing the lovin'!!! And if the idea of two people loving each other bothers you... it really make me wonder what's wrong with YOU.