The UK is slowly making its way towards allowing consensual marriage between adults, no matter who those adults happen to be. This is a good thing. Without qualifiers. It is just good. The current state of things can be simply summed up as “unjust” — or, to put it into British Political Terms, “not fair”.

But as the slow march towards equality continues, people continue to out themselves as bigots. That’s OK. Bigots are a part of life, and so long as bigots are increasingly marginalized, and bigotry continues to be less acceptable, they can serve as a barometer of our progress.

But sometimes the bigots are not inconsequential voices. Sometimes they are members of parliament; people who author, debate, and/or vote on laws. Bigoted MPs are not good. And some of them are saying things that truly piss me right the fuck off.

For instance, there was this article on the BBC, in which Defence Secretary Phil Hammond says:

There is a real sense of anger among many people who are married that any government thinks it has the ability to change the definition of an institution like marriage.

This anti-gay-marriage argument is one of the most common, and it is absolutely infuriating.

First, Hammond cannot even manage to make it for himself. He feels the need to disassociate with it, and claim it on the behalf of “many people”. So the whole thing begins with a bit of doublespeak, so that he can distance himself from the opinion when people call him out as a homophobe. Good politics, perhaps, but cowardly.

Secondly, it implies that the value that (some) people see in their marriage does not have to do with their partner, love, family, or commitment. It has to do with privilege. It states “I value my marriage because my ability to be in it makes me feel superior to other people.” Instead of a simple, straightforward dislike of people who are different, it is a belief that societal institutions that disenfranchise a segment of the population are good, right, and moral.

That, to me, is far more horrific.

Finally, I’m married. And I have never felt entirely comfortable being part of an institution which continues to enshrine inequality. I’m part of a “many people who are married” as well. Only, unlike Hammond’s “many”, mine believe that our marriages will gain meaning by being inclusive. My membership in the married club will be made all the better once the club is no longer exclusionary.

Today, the BBC published another story, of course. We can probably expect to see these every day between now and the first gay marriage in Britain. And each of them will feature Conservative politicians expressing their homophobia couched in terms that are meant to hide it.

And bravo to the Conservative politicians pushing this through despite this opposition. It can’t be easy for them.

One year ago, at this time of day, we were all dressed up. Only two of up were officially Topps.

A few hours later, a transformation had occurred, and there was a Mrs. Topp.

Two Topps entered. Three Topps returned.

It’s been a fantastic year. Today we celebrate.

I have no idea if this is legally binding in the United States – where the original post suggests it might be – nevermind in your particular geographical location, but TOSAmend looks like an awesome concept:

What if, instead of just blindly agreeing to a TOS document you haven’t read, you could just amend the TOS right there on the spot? Right there on the sign-up form.

Did you know that, when you’re signing a legal contract in the United States, you have the right to strikeout any clause that you do not understand or do not agree to? With the TOSAmend bookmarklet, you can also easily do this with web-based contracts and terms of services.

With this handy little javascript bookmarklet I’ve developed, you can.

Genius.

Photo is The Exhibitionist, by Brock Davis.
Webcomic is Oglaf. It is usually Not Safe For Work.

It’s a happy birthday for the Big Bad Blog, as we celebrate our second anniversary of Bloggitude today with a trip down memory lane …

Birth: January 10, 2009

The Big Bad Blog is born with the posting of Mr T Bag. This may have set the tone for everything that appeared on the blog since:

Awakening: May 2, 2009

On the twenty-sixth of April, 2009, the annual London Marathon passed not far from my home. I was out on the street, taking pictures. On the second of May, I posted three of the photos here on the blog … and the Big Bad Blog has not looked back.

By the end of that day, over 15,000 people had visited the blog. Another 9,000 would visit on Sunday.

Whether this did something to our search engine ranking, or new visitors decided to add us to their RSS feed, or what, we don’t know. While we have yet to manage another 15,000 hit day (or month) traffic has been up considerably ever since.

And that must be the fault of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

Commitment: January 24, 2010

In December of 2009, Karen and I went on vacation to Saint Lucia. On our return, I wrote a five-part story about our trip.

Although it happened towards the beginning (our first morning in St. Lucia, to be exact), I saved the best for last, and revealed that Karen and I were engaged in the fifth and final article about the trip.

While we are yet to be married (that will be one of our big events of 2011), the Big Bad Blog is, in the end, a chronicle of the life of one Mr. Topp. These things are important.

Procreation: October 7, 2010

Everywhere else I have written the date of the Big Bad Blog Article. Here, I write the date of the event.

On October 7, 2010, Margaret Rose Topp entered the world — and my life, to say nothing of the Big Bad Blog, has not been the same since. Blog outages, moves, and that whole Parenting category of articles? All these (and more) can be blamed on Maggie.

We introduced her a little over a week after she joined us.

Cute, ain’t she?