Now that we've heard from everyone else about marriage equality, let's hear from the cartoonists!

"Harry's decided that if the federal government
won't defend our marriage then he's got to."

"I have been gay all my life, and for most of it gay marriage was not even on the table. In fact, for many years the only time you saw anyone openly gay was on television, and they were hiding behind a screen with their voice disguised.

"I am thoroughly convinced that at some point in time same-sex marriage will be a non-issue. For the most part. Eventually. Sort of. . . .

"Did I mention  that I'm on vacation? I'm waiting for the sun to come out. I am not waiting for any government body or bodies to validate my relationships or determine my personal happiness. I am happy for everyone, gay and straight, who is happy about whatever it is the Supreme Court did."

-- New Yorker cartoonist Bill Haefeli

by Ken

Regular readers will recognize the infinite-dot technique of the above cartoon as the domain of New Yorker cartoon editor Bob Mankoff, and indeed in his blogpost this week, "Keep Calm and Carry On Being Funny," he has joined the chorus of commentary on the big Supreme Court decisions on same-sex marriage. "Both the jubilation and the jeremiads" that followed seemed to him "a bit overwrought," he says. After all, same-sex marriage is "still banned wherever it was banned, and the banning hasn't been ruled unconstitutional, even if it's unconscionable."

Bob being, as we know, a perpetual worrier, he has another worry now that DOMA has been dinged. "I worry that people may take matters into their own hands, with dire consequences" -- consequences like those he has imagined in the cartoon atop this post. (Note that all the cartoons should be click-expandable.) Bob does acknowledge, though, that "maybe now I'm the one who's getting overwrought."

For a "calmer perspective," he turns to New Yorker cartoonist Bill Haefeli, "who has mined this area of the cultural landscape for some time. And he offers us these cartoons of Bill's, from 1999 and 2000, respectively.

"If Heather has two mommies, and each of them
has two brothers, and one of those brothers
has another man for a 'roommate,' how
many uncles does Heather have?"

"I'm sorry, Jim. I love you, but I hate Vermont."

If you intuited a story coming on, well, you know our Bob, don't you? Here's the report Bill submitted to him.

Hi Bob!

I am on vacation.

Part of my vacation is taking a break from the news—that constant static of noise about things that, for the most part, have no specific bearing on one's day-to-day existence. I've heard vague rumors that the Supreme Court has done something positive in terms of same-sex marriage. I am gay. This could affect my day-to-day existence. I think I heard the word "momentous." I think I am supposed to be excited about this. Uh… O.K. A while back, when a state I do not live in legalized same-sex marriage, a straight friend of many years called me up to congratulate me on this advancement of my civil rights. I patiently explained that there were still forces opposed to my civil rights, the Forces of Evil, who were not about to give up and were plotting against me. All the while, the Forces of Good were strategizing, too, and there would be a long back-and-forth involving voters and three branches of governments in fifty states and the federal government, too, and reversals and appeals and amendments and acts and laws and even if all my civil rights were universally acknowledged legally there would still be individuals and groups who would not be on board and can I stop now? I am boring myself. I am on vacation, and even if I were not on vacation I would be boring myself.

Don't get me wrong. I am not pessimistic. I have been gay all my life, and for most of it gay marriage was not even on the table. In fact, for many years the only time you saw anyone openly gay was on television, and they were hiding behind a screen with their voice disguised.

I am thoroughly convinced that at some point in time same-sex marriage will be a non-issue. For the most part. Eventually. Sort of.

Did I mention that I am on vacation? I'm waiting for the sun to come out. I am not waiting for any government body or bodies to validate my relationships or determine my personal happiness. I am happy for everyone, gay and straight, who is happy about whatever it is the Supreme Court did.

Look! Here comes the sun!

All of which prompts from Bob this reply: "Thanks, Bill. Exactly the kind of under-wrought perspective I was looking for."


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