Yesterday their postcard arrived: “Greetings from Bruxelles where we’re spending a few days before all the family arrives.  The weather is uncharacteristically sunny and warm.  Love, Markus and Tam.”

Of all the same-sex couples I know as friends, Markus and Tam are the first to actually get married.  By “married” I don’t mean having a private commitment ceremony, as Tawn and I did, but actually having a legal ceremony recognized by the government.  It is a very exciting moment and we’re disappointed that we couldn’t be there for the ceremony.  However, Markus and Tam will hold a reception here in Thailand, so we will have the opportunity to wish them well then.

Right: Tam and Markus, dozing on my couch in anticipation of New Year’s Eve.

Germany’s version of gay marriage still isn’t perfect: while same-sex couples have the inheritance, tenant, and immigration rights of opposite-sex couples, they still lack the tax and welfare benefits as well as the ability to adopt that opposite-sex couples enjoy.

Still, in a world of countries that are offering no rights at all to their citizens who are in same-sex relationships (and those where being gay is illegal), it is a huge step forward.

So today is their big day.  Congratulations to them!  If you hear the faint peal of bells while you’re going about the day, carried across the distance by the August breeze, just know that that is the sound of change.