**edited to add P.S. at the end of the post – 7/10/2015**

I’ve tried to listen, pray, and think about the impact of last month’s Supreme Court ruling that now allows for same sex marriage. It seems to be a coming-out celebration party for everyone who identifies as homosexual and for their friends.

Some have described it in the same vein as Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. While I would not go that far, I do think many who have lived in the secrecy of public shame are emboldened that a public declaration makes them a little less sidelined and affords them a government-approved entrance ramp to marital bliss.

I’ve tried to imagine myself in their shoes. To be shamed for an orientation I did not choose, and to live with it secretly for fear of what others might think of me or do to me, would be a very heavy burden. So I do understand some of the “we-won” reaction.

However, the large majority of same-sex folk are not headed to the marriage altar. They just want their orientation “normalized.” And, like it or not in the church, this decision goes a long way in that direction.

A decision that impacts something as foundational as the definition of marriage will take a while to create consequences. As I look ahead, I have concerns (and some predictions) about the impact of this decision.

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