On the Monday, December 23, All In with Chris Hayes show on MSNBC, after Richard Kim of the far left The Nation magazine awarded the "Rookie of the Year" award to 84-year-old gay rights activist Edith Windsor, host Chris Hayes delivered a sappy tribute to gay rights as he imagined that for "thousands of years" same-sex couples have managed to form marriage-like relationships in spite of not being recognized by the state.
After bringing up Windsor, Kim referred to an article from the New Yorker [1] as he recalled:
And there's this beautiful profile written about her by Ariel Levy in the New Yorker that talked about her going on dates and, you know, looking for sex still and putting on makeup. And so, this story to me is about marriage, and it's also about the persistence of passion and justice and life after that. And it's just so poignant and lovely to me, and I hope that, wherever she is, she's having a great night.
As he responded, Hayes began:
Edie Windsor is a really remarkable human being. I've sort of had the honor to meet her in person, and I completely agree. And one other thing that's amazing to note about her and listen to her is that you realize that gay marriage existed before there was a name for it and a law for it and a Constitution, that, like, people loving each other and being in committed relationships to each other is something that the state doesn't get a say in, right? What the state gets a say in is, do you get the recognition and the benefits and the right to equality?
The MSNBC host concluded:
But the actual way people comport themselves, the bonds that people form with each other, when you listen to her oral history of that love, of that great, beautiful, mutually supporting, cherished love between her and her now deceased wife, Thea, it's a reminder that this has been there. And it's probably gone back hundreds and thousands of years, that people have found each other and fallen in love with each other and had gay marriages before anyone had a name for it or the state could confer its legitimacy. And now, finally, that is changing.