Wish I was there to throw rice or something

From Cook County Partner Registry to open Oct. 1, in the Chicago Free Press:

Cook County moves one step closer to equal recognition of gay and lesbian relationships Oct. 1 when the County Clerk's office begins registering same-sex domestic partnerships.

"It's the step we could take at the moment," said Bill Greaves, director of the Chicago Commission on Human Relation's Advisory Council on GLBT Issues. "My hope would be that we can use this to gain benefits for our community as we go forward."

Greaves and others expect a crowd the first morning as same-sex couples line up to take advantage of the registry.

And from the Sun-Times, Domestic partnership registry opens today:

When Jim Darby and Patrick Bova met 40 years ago, they never dreamed that one day, as a gay couple, they would be able to register with the county as domestic partners.

That day arrives today when the Cook County Clerk's Office--the same office that issues marriage licenses--will begin issuing certificates of domestic partnership.

Though the certificates confer no legal benefits and are largely symbolic, many gay and lesbian couples have expressed an interest in signing up, according to Cook County Clerk David Orr. Orr, along with county Commissioner Mike Quigley, will be on hand to greet the first same-sex couple to sign up for the certificate today.

I'd like to think there won't be any idiots protesting against this baby step forward, but I've lived too long and seen too much to honestly believe that.

Fuck 'em.

This shouldn't be about their very public hatred, but about love, expressed privately and, with the registry, publicly.

And since I can't go, I'm just going to sit here with a goofy grin knowing that there is progress, and there is good news to provide at least a bit of balance to the bad.