Marriage Equality

 

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The picture above is of two people in love.  How can we determine the gender of these two gentle, caring people?  How do we figure out which one is male, which one female?  The one on the left appears to be male, though the lips are somewhat feminine.  On the right, the ear seems to belong to a female, or perhaps not.  Why is this so difficult?  Are we as adults, and reasonably smart, intuitive, alert people pretty good at picking out gender markers, characteristics and profiles?  Of course we are.  Then why the trouble with this picture?  I'm sure those eyebrows belong to a female, right?  And the hairline on the right is definitely male, true?  Why is this so hard?

And why does it matter?  Do lips and eyebrows and ears and hairlines fall in love and share that loving sensation with each other? No.  People fall in love, and people share all that love represents, whether it's a whispered affirmation, an eyebrow raised in greeting from across a crowded room, a brush of lips against each others' in the dim half-light of evening, or the bending of an ear to a lover, to capture every sense and nuance of what they tell us.

If we have trouble determining genders and characteristics of two people in love, perhaps it doesn't matter?  All that any of us want is to be one of those two people, and to share that kind of love with another person.