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Love of any kind is something to celebrate

Spring is (officially) here and love is in the air. With the release of our 2008 Commitment Guide and the upcoming elections, it's time for us at Between The Lines to take a look at love in the LGBT community. We're still falling in and out of love the same as we always have, but the way that others look at our love is changing.
Yes, Massachusetts is still the only state that allows same-sex marriages. However, the battle is on to add California and possibly even Florida to that list in the near future. With those two states backing up love between any two people who experience it, it's only a matter of time before the rest of the country, slowly but surely, hops on the gay marriage bandwagon.
Same-sex marriages are performed regularly in Canada and Massachusetts, and states like Hawaii and Vermont are offering similar benefits. And guess what? The sky hasn't fallen. God hasn't exacted his wrath on us for perverting the sanctity of marriage. No one has married their dog and polygamy isn't going to be on any ballots this November. In fact, the only people gay marriages are disturbing are those who still hold the naive belief that homosexuality is wrong. Those people are waning in number and upheld only by what they think, not by the facts of same-sex marriages, which are piling up and proving them wrong.
We at Between The Lines believe that it's only a matter of time before the world recognizes that love has nothing to do with what sex you are. As Crystal Proxmire and her female-to-male transgender boyfriend Aaron Watkins prove, love can transcend what you think you are attracted to. For Proxmire, it was a learning experience. "I always have been attracted to people because of their intelligence and passion for life," she said. "It has nothing to do with a physical self."
Or, take for example Beth and Lisa Bashert, who married in 1993 and, this year, will celebrate their daughter's wedding to a man she met in college. The two had a ceremony that was a mixture of Pagan and Jewish rituals, and they didn't let their differences in religion of social and political obstacles stand in their way.
Love like that is hard to come by and, whether it's in public places, in churches and courthouses, or in the pages of BTL, it deserves to be celebrated. Not because it's special or different or something to gawk at. Proxmire and Watkins, the Basherts and millions of other courageous couples deserve recognition for making commitments to each other that ignored typical restraints.
Its been said before but it warrants repeating: Finding someone to spend your time and life with isn't something to take lightly, nor is it something anyone should be denied simply because it isn't what's "normal" in the eyes of some. No one should let states laws, the views of others or even a sign on a particular Redford church stand in the way of loving whomever they choose to love.
Love who you're meant to love today. Let people and state governments do whatever they need to do to realize that it's good, right and something to celebrate. In time, they'll all come around.

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