Marriage doesn't define a relationship. Unless you want it to.
In Marry Me a Little, Rob Kirby recounts his experience of marrying his longtime partner, John, just after gay marriage was legalized in Minnesota in 2013, and two years before the Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges made gay marriage the law of the land. This is a personal story--about Rob's ambivalence (if not antipathy) toward the institution of marriage, his loving relationship with John, and the life that they share together--set against the historical and political backdrop of shifting attitudes toward gay rights and the institution of marriage. With humor and candor, Rob relates how he and John navigated this changing landscape, how they planned and celebrated their wedding, and how they and others in the gay community are now facing the very real possibility of setbacks to marriage equality.
Heartwarming and humorous, Marry Me a Little is both a celebration of a romantic partnership between two men and a personal account of a momentous and historic moment in the fight for gay rights.
About the Author
Cartoonist Rob Kirby has been making comics since 1991. He is the author of Curbside Boys and the creator and editor of several anthologies, including the series THREE, for which he received the 2011 Prism Queer Press Grant, and the Ignatz Award-winning QU33R (2014).
KIRKUS (STARRED) -- A personal look at same-sex marriage from an award-winning comics creator. Like his colleague Alison Bechdel, Kirby had a long-running series syndicated in the gay and alternative press; this is his debut memoir. In 2013, not long after same-sex marriage was legalized in their home state of Minnesota, Kirby and his partner of 10 years, John, tied the knot at the "very romantic" Hennepin County courthouse. However, "being white, middle class, & male afford[ed] John & me the privilege to ramble on about being 'of two minds' and 'ambivalent' about this marriage process," he notes, and puckishly details all the phases of the wedding, from issuing email announcements ("remember Earthlink?") to suit selection ("business casual with a touch of retro flair") to choosing the wine for the reception. Alongside their story, the text includes a recap of same-sex marriage politics, including California's Proposition 8 and the 2015 Supreme Court decision to affirm the right to same-sex marriage; a guide to wedding-related pop songs and big- and small-screen nuptials; and quite endearingly, a subplot concerning the couple's beloved dog. The narrative continues through several dark recent turns of events, including the tumult of the Trump years and the pandemic, as well as the currently simmering threat to marriage equality. The author supports the easygoing tone of the political content with an interesting graphic choice: The text and drawings are black-andwhite with accents of red and blue; hazy red and blue spots float through the panels in a way that seems to suggest the increasingly divided partisan ambience of the country. Near the end, the author sums up the narrative: "Our life together: a mix of little stuff and big stuff, arguments and heart-to-hearts, personal quirks and private jokes, doubts and commitments, work and play, joy and grief...day-to-day life stacking up into years gone by." Panel by panel, this graphic memoir is wry, intelligent, compelling, and adorable.
Publisher: Graphic Mundi - Psu Press Pub date: February 21, 2023 Length: 112 pages Format: Paperback
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