This morning Martinez marked the first official gay marriage in Contra Costa County with a public ceremony for County Recorder Steve Weir and his partner John Hemm. It took place in the park right next to the secondary dam, which (since beavers mate for life) must be a very good omen for a wedding. The event was widely attended by supporters, media and protesters and a host of police and sheriffs. There were even swat team on the roof and a bomb sniffing dog who checked out the area. Worth A Dam was there as well, to make sure the beavers were undisturbed and the interested media knew what they were looking at in the water. Many beaver regulars popped by to offer support and remind me that “beaver folk” are “good neighbors”. Even though they might not be of a single mind about the issue of gay rights, we appear to be universally decent and compassionate humans. A bagpiper welcomed the couple over the bridge and marked the occasion. Wherever one stands on the development, the day was historic. I’m pretty sure that even the Kansas protesters could hear the blowing winds of change. With the attitude shift in the younger generation it is just a matter of time before same-sex marriage is no longer a media event. In Hamlet’s words:
There is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow
If it be now, ‘tis not to come
If it be not to come; it will be now
If it be not now, yet it will come
The readiness is all.
Hamlet V:2
Or for a more familiar voice…
