So I wrote something completely different for Holly and Till’s wedding blog post. Then, today a 5-4 Supreme Court ruling legalized same sex marriage in all 50 states. I trashed my old draft to share this instead. Holly and Till’s story is about how love conquers all. For Till and Holly to fall in love, Till had to rally all his confidence to speak to this woman who held him awestruck at first sight. Once they got past “hello”, they then had to manage a long distance relationship between Canada and Baltimore. After years of long distance, Holly left her home to be by the side of her one true love. In Maryland transgender marriages are recognized as legal and binding. But today Holly and Till’s sacrifices and undeniable love is now legal and celebrated in all 50 states. I have never met two people so uniquely made for one another until I met Holly and Till. Their love is poetic and captivating. I’m so incredibly happy for them today, yesterday, and tomorrow. XO

“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 become 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 civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.”

“The Constitution promises liberty to all within its reach, a liberty that includes certain specific rights that allow persons, within a lawful realm, to define and express their identity. The petitioners in these cases seek to find that liberty by marrying someone of the same sex and having their marriages deemed lawful on the same terms and conditions as marriages between persons of the opposite sex.”

“Far from seeking to devalue marriage, the petitioners seek it for themselves because of their respect—and need—for its privileges and responsibilities. And their immutable nature dictates that same-sex marriage is their only real path to this profound commitment.” –Justice Anthony Kennedy