While news of same-sex marriage bans being struck down across the country isn’t exactly an uncommon headline these days, the decision in Pennsylvania yesterday is of particular significance to me. While I mostly consider myself a Virginian these days, having spent nearly half my life here, and having lived in my current residence in the Richmond suburbs longer than I’ve lived in any other single place in my entire life, Pennsylvania is the place where I was born, and although I haven’t felt particularly at home there in a long time (in large part due to the regressive attitudes historically displayed in the vast wilderness between the two major metropolitan areas), the events of the Keystone state will always draw my attention.

The news that the Constitutional ban on gay marriage in PA has been struck down is particularly gratifying, in part because it shows that the prevailing tides of tolerance in this country have finally started cracking the conservative bastions of my youth, and that dear friends may finally have their perfectly normal, loving and committed relationships recognized the same way mine is. Also, I’d be lying if I didn’t take some personal satisfaction in the schadenfreude inherent in the fact that Judge John E. Jones III, who issued the ruling, was endorsed in his placement to the Federal Judiciary by none other than perhaps Pennsylvania’s most well-known homophobe, former Senator Rick Santorum.

It’s honestly gratifying to see things changing. It was also rather gratifying to note that my facebook feed, which still contains several folks in Pennsylvania who regularly spew forth with all kinds of conservative Glenn-Beckian froth, was completely free of wailing and gnashing of teeth 24 hours after the announcement of the ruling. I’m sure I’ll see some in coming days, but I take solace in the fact that people are either finally coming along, or at least have the decency to remain quiet in the homophobia.

Personally, I’d love to see some of the language from Judge Jones’ ruling become appropriated as a rallying cry for the movement, as his words were particularly eloquent:

We are a better people than what these laws represent, and it is time to discard them into the ash heap of history.

The times, indeed, are changing, for the better. However, like in other states, the issue isn’t entirely settled. If you’re of a mind (and I hope you are), you might check out Equality Pennsylvania to get involved and see this process through to the end.