Last week, the Supreme Court of Iowa reversed a statewide ban on gay marriage, making it legal for gay people in Iowa to attain the same status as straight people, in the eyes of the state. Of course, opponents of gay marriage (bigots, I think they’re called) immediately cried “activist judges!” which is a complete red herring, seeing as the Iowa Supreme Court did exactly what they are supposed to do under the Constitution, uphold the rule of law for every citizen of the United States and, in this case, the state of Iowa.

Well, fast forward to Monday and the Iowa legislature is already trying to think of ways to overturn the court’s ruling by instituting another ban on gay marriage. Well, one state senator thought he should say something in opposition. Actually, he’s not just a senator, he’s the Senate Majority Leader and his name is Chuck Gronstahl(D). This is what he had to say:

Kinda brings a tear to your eye, doesn’t it? Today, Chuck Gronstahl is my hero. You can’t really argue with that kind of bedrock, Midwestern logic. I’m sorry that there’s not really a joke here, folks. I really wanted to make this funny in some way or another. I suppose the simple fact that gay marriage is now legal in Iowa, but not in that freewheeling state of California is funny, when you think about it. What’s next? Wyoming?

But seriously, Gronstahl makes a damn good point. If more people from his generation came to that understanding in the debate over gay marriage, I think that we wouldn’t have to wait until our generation fully takes control of politics and the public forum to finally get gay marriage legalized. Getting married was so easy for my wife and I, so seeing all of these people who just want to be able to slip that ring onto their partner’s finger, but can’t because of some people’s stupid hangups and baseless fears is so frustrating.

The very least we can wish to our fellow human beings is that they be happy in their lives, no matter their religion, skin color or sexual orientation. It’s not like gay people are asking for the world, here, folks. They’re just asking for the ability to get married. Seeing that nearly half of marriages in our country end up in divorce, anyway, isn’t that the least we could give them?