I moved to New York City in 1975, subway fare was 35 cents, I thought a studio apartment in Greenwich Village for $180 a month was too much money and New Year's Eve in Times Square was a lot of fun.

I've seen a lot of changes. A. Lot. Of. Changes. I still think New York City is the greatest city in the world, especially Manhattan (I'm warming up to Brooklyn and Queens). Yet, in my 40 years of living on this tiny island have I never experienced a greater city wide celebration than than the Marriage Equality law coming into reality. I surround myself with people who support, confront and inspire me.

In case you missed Justice Kennedy's closing paragraph: "No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice and family. In forming a marital union, two people becoming something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it. respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilizations oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right. The judgement of the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is reversed."

I don't know if I'm ever going to get married, my sweetheart and I have been together close to 28 years, but now, for the first time, in the eyes of the federal government of these United States of America, I can.