Are there ways you can make your wedding stand for the right of all people to marry? What are they? How can you help? What can we do to make marriage matter for everyone?

Steve and I made a very public decision not to pursue a legal marriage because so many people could not marry. I continue to struggle with whether I should sign marriage licenses. Difficult not to do, because it is my livelihood. I push my church to review whether it is a good idea for us to be in the legal business of weddings, rather than the spiritual one. After all, we’re not in the legal business of divorce.

I“d love to hear from you about this.

Carmen Jaspersen / European Pressphoto Agency captured Z and Vielpunkt in their enclosure.

The Humbolt penguins are a slightly endangered species so the zookeepers decided to see whether Z and Vielpunkt could raise a chick. They’d tried introducing females, to gay group outrage and no avail! The two penguins had tried incubating a rock which hadn’t been very successful. But when a heterosexual penguin couple tossed out this egg, the zookeepers gave it to these two. They’ve been exemplary parents. They incubated an egg for 30 days and then since late April, they’ve been faithfully feeding their young’un fish mash. (don’t ask, or i’ll recite my poem!) No word on gender of this happy lil guy. But their vet has proclaimed Vielpunkt and Z the best parents in the zoo!

Carmen Jaspersen took this shot of the happy chick.

I read a lot of articles on this, but my favorite came from the LA Times: That article also tells the story of an ingenious Chinese gay pair who attempted to steal eggs from straight couples, disguising their theft by leaving rocks in the nest. Originally removed from the zoo, public outcries brought them back. They now have been given two eggs of their own. No word yet on their parenting skills.

Tip: Mother Nature would like you to know, it’s all about raising the children so that they’re healthy and happy. That happens best in happy families.

Why? Well, why not? It’s gorgeous, and it’s close.

Janet Durrans of the NYT took this picture of Kari Hovland, left, and Marjorie Bennett of California, who traveled to Greenwich, Conn., to marry.

Tip: get married there and consider staying around for some sort of celebration. Might as well support the state that supports you.

Now, speaking of thinking people, the Wedding Priestess is not about to. Instead she’s going to talk about Pat Robertson who said gay marriage will lead to people’s dating ducks and Bill O’Reilly’s taking it the extra mile: people will be marrying ducks. (Not me, they bite, and besides I’ll be true to Darling Drummer.)

But here’s Garfunkel and Oates response to this, based on a flip statement once made by Andrew Sullivan. Read it and laugh. And then call your congresspeople to support the legalization of same sex marria

ge. (OK, this week the Wedding Priestess is going to learn how to embed video. grrr.) Go find this gem in an great article in Salon. Sorry to make you work this hard.

Tip: You’re never too old to make a fool of yourself. How’s that saying go? Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt! Advice, too little too late for the guys.

President Obama was riffing (which is fairly amusing to see) about himself, his gorgeous wife, Democrats and Republicans. He then made a joke about one of his advisors. He said, “yep when he and I got together, he said let’s do what so many partners are doing. Let’s go to Iowa and make it official.”

Your President and mine, making a joke that acknowledges gay marriage in an approving way! Your President and mine unafraid to create a vision of himself as a guy with a male partner! That’s progress that we need.

Tip: You heard it here first, middle and last.

1. Gay marriage is not what’s causing problems in heterosexual marriages.
2. There is not too much love in the world.
3. There are not too many stable families in our communities.
4. It’s time to stop working to keep people out of marriage and time to start trying to keep people in them.

Gay marriage, their right, our responsibility. Straight marriage? Same deal.

Good on Barack!

Marriage matters. The free willed acceptance of one responsible, loving partner by another is one of the most important choices and promises that individuals ever make and keep. It is sacred when and because the decision is made by responsible, loving partners. Same-sex marriages are sacred when the partners are responsible and loving. Heterosexual marriages are not sacred if one party has no say in her life, even if that marriage is made between a man and a woman(child).

For our marriages to be sacred, we must speak out against forced marriage. We must speak out against the enslavement of young girls. Every marriage should be as special as yours is. Every wedding should be as perfect.

Tip on the frog thing: My dears, if the frog doesn’t turn into a prince when you kiss him, don’t marry him. He’s not what you were looking for. This may be some of the best advice I’ve ever given!

I’ll say this many times. There is not too much love in the world. There are not too many committed relationships. The more committed relationships there are, the more successful committed relationships there will be. The Law can not circumscribe the wisdom of the heart.

Tip: Go read the article and scroll down and read what I said. And yes, Wedding Priestess DID spell her name wrong. It was early, ok?

Marriage is sacred. But we do not treat it as such. More than 50 percent of first time marriages end in divorce. Are we marrying too early, too hastily, with not enough thought or conviction? The sacredness of marriage is not in who marries but in who keeps the commitments.

Same Sex Marriage: Their Right, Everyone’s Responsibility

Tip: Speak out in favor of the rights of gays and lesbians to marry and for their families to have the protection of the law. Shore up your own marital success and surround yourself with people who make and keep loving promises.

Shout Hallelujah! I just signed my first same-sex wedding license for Jenny and Rachel. On the 6th anniversary of their oh, so, lovely wedding ceremony, another intimate gathering resulted in a legal license for these two California moms! I am so proud and happy!