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Last month I attended the first gay marriage in my family. Make no mistake, family weddings are a BIG deal for my family. It is typically an occasion for all of my relatives, who are now spread across the globe, to come back to India and relish in the traditions of gossiping, drinking, dancing, and, perhaps most importantly, gorging ourselves on the very finest of foods while wearing the most colorful and over the top outfits. In many ways this wedding was no different. An 8 course dinner of the best traditional Spanish food and a courtyard garden full of saris and evening gowns watching the happy couple exchange garlands. What was significant about the wedding is not that family had come from around the globe to celebrate and relish in traditions, but that they came to support the couple. You see my family is from India and in India not only are same sex marriages not recognized, but the very act of same sex love is a criminal act punishable under Chapter XVI, Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. Life imprisonment is the penalty.

The United States was founded with the fundamental believe that every person has the fundamental right to the pursuit of happiness. Some of the basic rights listed below are rights that those in the gay and lesbian community have been denied. These are rights that I believe are fundamental to the pursuit of happiness. To see so many people offended at the sheer outpouring of bliss over yesterday’s announcement disheartens me because to me it means that they are really offended by the happiness of others, by the love of others, and that they are carrying hate in their hearts for their fellow men and women, and judging their fellow men and women for the act of simply loving each other. President Obama in his speech yesterday stated that this historic decision has, “made our union a little more perfect, ” and that the landmark case was a “victory for America.” While I couldn’t agree more this is but one battle in a war against discrimination that spans across the globe. Yet I have hope because as President Obama also said in yesterday’s speech, “ordinary people can do extraordinary things.”