Ellen DeGeneres to Marry Portia de Rossi

The crowd went wild as Ellen DeGeneres announced the news of her and longtime girlfriend Portia De Rossi's plans to get married while taping her show the same day that the California courts had ruled against a ban on gay marriages, as reported by MTV.

I once worked with a lady whose girlfriend had wanted to get married for a long time. Since we all lived in Oklahoma, this was almost impossible for them to accomplish. Even if they would have gotten married in another state that allowed gay marriages, Oklahoma would not have recognized them as an actual married couple.

My friend decided to do the next best thing, she had a commitment ceremony. A commitment ceremony is very similar to a wedding ceremony.

The commitment ceremony was beautiful with my friend in a wedding dress and her life partner in a tuxedo. Nearly everything was the same as a regular wedding. Instead of throwing white rice or white birdseeds, we dipped the birdseeds in different colors of food coloring to give off the colors of the rainbow. The rainbow is a symbol that the gay community often uses. It was unique and very lovely.

Before we could wish the couple a good fair well as they headed to the limo, a group of people came up to the church and started chanting about being anti-gay. I thought that this was unfair and they had no right.

I am not gay myself, but I do believe that if this is what they want, then they should be left alone. I know what the Bible says and I know that there are a lot of people who are also of different religions. I respect those religions the same as I do the right to be gay.

After a while the police officers where called out to settle down the ruckus but instead of having the anti-gay group leave, they told them to just stay off of the property. We could hear their screams coming from across the street and there wasn't a thing that we could do since there is also a law that protects them; the freedom of speech.

I understand why some laws have recognized gay marriages and others haven't but it is like what DeGeneres had said to the Advocate magazine, we all deserve the same rights.

Once my friend and her partner had their commitment ceremony, she had whispered in my ear that she hopes someday that they too can be recognized as a marriage couple.

Despite what had happened with the anti-gay crew showing up, it was still a very lovely ceremony and one that they probably will not forget for years to come.

I figure that by the time my children are older, there will be no more anti-gay groups and they will be recognized and given the same rights as the rest of us.

My grandfather said that he didn't know what to think when the women started to vote but now it is a time of the past and just like those women, the gay community will eventually be given the same fairness as the rest of us.