On Saturday, November 15th, 2008, Time published an incendiary piece of “reporting” by Alison Stateman, describing negative consequences experienced by supporters of California’s Proposition 8, with the sensationalistic title, “What Happens If You’re on the Gay ‘Enemies List.’” The deeply flawed article is a completely one-sided attempt to portray these individuals and businesses as innocent victims of a vengeful, torch-and-pitchfork-wielding gay mob, bent on the destruction of any who dare to stand between them and their goal of legalized gay marriage. This article is nothing more than journalistic arson, as it appears to have been commissioned with the goal of pouring gasoline on the fire of extant rifts between various communities –while polarizing straight people, and African-Americans in particular, against the gay community.

On Saturday, November 15th, up to one million people rallied in over 300 cities and towns across the United States and overseas to advocate for one common cause: marriage equality for all.

This event was born only eight days earlier when two women, Amy Balliett and Willow Witte, started exchanging emails about the passage of California's Proposition 8 and anti-gay initiatives in the states of Florida, Arizona and Arkansas. They created Join the Impact, and people flocked to their new website to network and publicize their own grassroots plans to rally. You can read more about Join the Impact in this great article from 365Gay.

I joined with the local LGBT rights organization Equality Action Now to help stage the Sacramento, CA demonstration. Many fine speakers, including local elected leaders, made the case for marriage equality. As they did, my mind wandered to consider the power of marriage, and three marriages in particular, to change the world.

Look back in time with me, then ahead to the future, to consider these three marriages.

In conjunction with the national grassroots movement Join the Impact, Equality. Action.

On Tuesday, November 4th, the United States took a bold step forward when it elected Barack Obama to be our next President. But the day was bittersweet for gay and lesbian Americans and their allies, because ballot initiatives limiting the civil rights of LGBT Americans passed in four states. Three, in California, Arizona and Florida, targeted same-sex marriage, and the especially pernicious Arkansas initiative placed new barriers to adoption, not only for same-sex couples, but for all unmarried couples.

Since that set of apparently contradictory electoral outcomes came to pass, there has been a groundswell of response. Some of it has been useless and divisive, such as finger-pointing at various classes and communities of people who predominately opposed marriage equality at the polls, but much of it has been inspiring.