I had a better post formulated about this documentary we watched the other night, but as I’m perenially busy here at work and never think to blog at home this will have to do. The movie is a recent documentary about the movement for equal marriage rights for gays. Nothing amazing, but it was well put together and had a few touching moments as it brought a human element into the movie by following a few people closely including:

A rural gay man who had lost his partner and was now facing losing his property. Even though his partner had a will, his family contested it on a technicality and took control of his farm.

A lesbian whose wife was shot down on the job (both police officers) and denied her partner’s pension.

One moment stood out in my mind. They interviewed a gay male married couple in the Netherlands, where it recently became legal for gay couples to marry. One of them said they have a saying over there that people can judge a nation by how it treats it minorities. The statement rang incredibly true with my beliefs. Any majority can get what it wants in almost any form of government. The ability for the majority to be satiated in a democracy is no great boon to that nation’s form of government or society. But when that society treats its minorities of its own volition with equity and dignity, the society is truly evolved and civilized. Alas, U.S. society falls far short of such a standard, having lagged behind its European counterparts in virtually every civil rights movement.