something happier
I haven't seen much talk of this on LJ: on Monday, the General Synod of the United Church of Christ overwhelmingly passed a resolution calling for equal marriage rights for all couples, regardless of gender. This is the first time that a major, mainline U.S. denomination has done so. Of course, since the UCC is full of free-spirited individualists (er, I mean, "has a congregational polity"), this resolution isn't binding on individual UCC congregations or pastors; everyone gets to listen to their own conscience. But when the Synod resolves something like this, it does get a lot of attention and support throughout the denomination.