I recently attended a beautiful Madison wedding in Olin Park. It was a perfect setting with temps in the 70s, a light breeze, and a view of Lake Monona. The couple, originally from Wisconsin but currently living in Minnesota, decided to return to their college town for the ceremony to be amongst most of their friends.

The ceremony itself included a bit of activism. A nice touch was the wedding band made from the recycled gold of an old computer. A better touch was the announcement that the civil part of the their marriage was done in Minnesota in opposition to the recently passed Wisconsin initiative that gay couples should not marry, even though this couple was not gay.

Some people here in Madison tend to forget that we are definitely encased in a bubble of liberal politics. Gay people live freely in Madison, but per state rules they still can’t marry the person they love. No, it's not Madison that worries me: it is the rest of the state and states that can’t seem to get over the fact that yes, gays exists, and yes, gays can love, too!

But even in Madison we have issues. From time to time I’ll be out there minding my own business and all some bigot can think of is to call me a “fag” because I’m running in spandex. My canned response is to shout back “Yea? I’m gay so what? Homophobe!” Even though I’m not gay I feel like there is no need to be threatened by an insult that isn’t really an insult anyway because it is sure as hell o-kay to be gay.

A law or initiative or whatever that says it isn’t OK for a gay couple to be married is saying that it isn’t OK to be gay and I think anyone who has compassion at all for people around them knows that homophobes are the problem - not homosexuals.

How nice it was for this couple’s wedding I was attending to acknowledge this injustice directly. I wish we all could do the same.