Another local link in The New York Times Sunday

I love looking in The NY Times on Sunday for, well, anything and everything, really, because you just never know what you'll find.  It's like life on a hallucinogenic, that paper.  It's great.  Mind-blowing, even.  What a fantastic way to end and start a week.

And I love checking out the "Vows" section each week, even, because, unlike all the rest of the parochial, condemning newspapers across the country, the Times can and does show marriages, however few, between same-sex couples.

So there one was this week and it had a local connection, too:

Jack O’Kelley III, John Haskins

Jack O’Kelley III and John Alan Haskins were married Saturday evening at Meridian House in Washington. Judge Barrington D. Parker Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit officiated.

Mr. O’Kelley (left), 43, is a partner in New York for Heidrick & Struggles, an executive recruiting and consulting firm. He advises boards and companies on succession planning for chief executives. He graduated summa cum laude from Hampton University and received a law degree from Yale.

He is the son of the late Maxine H. O’Kelley and the late Mr. O’Kelley Jr., who lived in Burlington, N.C. His mother was an assistant superintendent of the Burlington City school system. She was a member of the board of governors of the University of North Carolina System and a founding director of MidCarolina Bank in Burlington. His father was the chairman of the Alamance County Commission and also a member of the board of governors of the University of North Carolina System.

Mr. Haskins, 48, is an associate managing editor of The International Herald Tribune in Paris, which is published by The New York Times. He graduated from the University of Missouri.

He is the son of Joyce Lee Johannsen of Manchester, Mo., and the late John Lee Haskins, who lived in Des Moines. His mother retired as a public affairs specialist for the Army Reserve Personnel Center in St. Louis. His father owned Gold Coast, a tavern in Des Moines.

My real reason for posting this--besides the fact that he's a local boy--is to point out that, if Mr. Haskins stayed in the area, he wouldn't have this option, unless he drove up to Iowa, got married and came back.

And even then, the Star couldn't and wouldn't show it in the Sunday paper.

Here's hoping for an open-minded, accepting and equal future for us all one day.

And the sooner, the better.

Link:  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/08/fashion/weddings/08OKELLEY.html?ref=weddings