Validation?

I awoke to news of the legalization of gay marriage in the State of New York. I hear the cheering, recorded last night in Albany. I am happy for the joy of those who are cheering. 

I re-learned something valuable in the early years of my involvement in Gay Liberation in the 1970s. It was a lesson I had earlier learned from the brave campaigners for African-American equality in the 1950s and 1960s. It's simple: Validation from other people or institutions is not a substitute for self-validation. Unfortunately, many rely on validation from outside themselves to avoid the hard work of looking honestly at their lives. 

Gay marriage passed into law in New York with a political deal that religious institutions would be exempt with full legal impunity from honoring GLBT civil (marriage) rights. In other words, New York State has written a form of discrimination against GLBT people into law. This is, of course, against all humanist principles of equal rights and justice. So, I am not cheering. In fact, I am a bit disappointed that some in the Gay Rights movements are satisfied with a law that is a blatant institutionalization of religious prejudice. Is the pomp and circumstance of a gay wedding worth that loss of dignity in the eyes of the law?