America Suddenly Being Remarkably Cool to Gay People

Today, Secretary of State John Kerry announced that effective immediately, visa applicants who are married to a person of the same sex will be treated exactly the same as those in heterosexual marriages. And yesterday, the Senate approved several openly gay nominees to various posts with no debate or opposition. It’s almost like suddenly our cobwebby old guy politicians just decided to treat gay people like human beings. What’s your game, government?! Do you need to borrow money or something?

Buzzfeed summarizes the Senate’s remarkable non-fuckery thusly,

The Senate confirmed John Berry to serve as the ambassador to Australia — the first out gay ambassador to a G-20 country — on a voice vote Thursday, along with three other out gay ambassadorial nominees: Rufus Gifford as ambassador to Denmark, James Costos as ambassador to Spain and Daniel Baer to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

Also confirmed on a voice vote was Stuart Delery, a senior Justice Department official who is gay […]

What in tarnation is going on??? Gay people being recognized for their merits and qualifications rather than barred from advancement based on some drawling old fundie’s obsession with gay sex? Next thing you know, the Senate’s going to be giving voice vote approvals to dogs.

And here’s the juicy bits of Kerry’s statement, via Slate,

As long as a marriage has been performed in a jurisdiction that recognizes it so that it is legal, then that marriage is valid under U.S. immigration laws, and every married couple will be treated exactly the same, and that is what we believe is appropriate. Today, the State Department, … is tearing down an unjust and an unfair barrier that for too long stood in the way of same-sex families being able to travel as a family to the United States.