A Victory In The Culture Wars...

I went to a wedding last weekend.  It was a few minutes north of the most southern part of New Jersey (full disclosure: I won't be doing any Jersey-jokes as my dad was born and raised in Trenton, though to my shame I have no idea what exit).

Anyway, the service was very nice.  Short but nice.  There was the near-mandatory reading from 1 Corinthians:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

(Full disclosure: this was read at my wedding as well.)

There was also a very interesting reading from The Alchemist.  I can't remember the details, of course, but it had something to do with love.

The service was on the deck of a fashionable hotel overlooking an inland bay, and this being the late afternoon, and as we were facing west, the sun hung just high enough in the sky over the bride and groom to necessitate lots of hands creating lots of shade over lots of squinting eyes.

The music before the service was Mozart (Nachtmusik, I think) and some Vivaldi, but no Wagner or Mendelssohn - which was a nice departure from the tried and true.

The music before the dinner (where the guests gorged ourselves on the appetizers) was Miles, Kind of Blue.  How cool is that?

The dinner food, ohmigod the dinner food was amazing.  I had the chicken while the lovely wife had the vegetarian meal (though she's not a vegetarian).   Since half the guests were from Southern PA, there was a YUGE cookie table pressed against one wall.  Cookies so good they kinda crowded out the usual wedding party desserts from the hotel (which were still amazing).

So why am I telling you this?  For this moment afterwards.

The DJ played a more than acceptable mix of wedding music after the dinner though my 52 year old ears were screaming "IT'S TOO LOUD!" at me after about an hour or so.  Kids these days, I tell ya.  At some point during, however, the DJ played a slow song.  This one:

Unforgettable
That's what you are,
Unforgettable
Tho' near or far.

At that point couples snuggled close and began to gently sway to Nat King Cole.

Unforgettable
In every way,
And forever more
That's how you'll stay.

Among the slowly swaying, something caught my middle-aged eye.  One man approached another and they fell easily into a familiar embrace and began to dance. 

And no one noticed (other than me, I suppose).

Know what happened next?  Nothing.  No one left in disgust, the vice squad didn't knock the doors in, society didn't unravel, and G-d didn't punish the southern tip of New Jersey with a special delivery mega-storm.  It was just two guys slow dancing.

I realize there's a huge number of issues still facing the LGBT community but if two men can slow dance at a wedding reception in southern New Jersey and go more or less unnoticed, that's got to be something of a victory, right? 

Last thing I noticed (and this whole thing took about 5 seconds) was the face of one of the guys, his face nestled gently against the shoulder of his partner.  His smile communicated just one thing, "I am so happy right now."

Why on Earth would anyone want to get in the way of that?