What a difference a week makes (too bad Dinah Washington isn’t around to give us a rendition of her signature song). Seven days ago there was teeth gnashing over the California Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the Prop 8 vote. Heck we even had some keyboard revolutionaries leaving messages here about how it’s time to either shoot straight people or burn a few churches (how is that going you little pink Mau Maus?).

Today there is nothing but jubilation. Yesterday New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch put his signature on a gay marriage bill and starting in 2010, same sex couples will be able to walk down the aisle in the Live Free or Die State. The happiness is well deserved because it proves what Dan Savage pointed out: we are winning.

Attention now turns to New York and there is conflicting data. State Sen.Tom Duane, who is leading the fight in Albany, says there are enough votes to pass same sex marriage legislation. This turned Duane’s colleague, Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr., hissy and the anti-gay marriage advocate released a statement telling Duane to “shut-up” (Diaz has a history of press releases filled with operatic histrionics).

Wish I had a crystal ball that would show how the New York Senate will vote, but I have no idea what is going to happen. Nate Silver, over at 538.com, crunches the numbers and says it’s going to be a tough haul but nothing is definitive.

It makes my day to think like Nate.

PS: RIP Koko Taylor.

Proposition 8 stands.

It wasn’t unexpected, but the news still stung.

If I lived in a part of the country where protests and rallies were being held today, I’d probably find myself at one of them.

There’s anger. There’s disappointment. There’s frustration. It’d be nice to share it with a few thousand other people feeling angry, disappointed and frustrated, too.

I keep thinking, though, about the 18,000 couples who got good news today. Their marriages weren’t erased. Their families are still intact. The life they woke up to this morning will be the same life they take to bed with them tonight, and I think that’s a solace on a day like today. I think that’s a reason to celebrate.

I don’t begrudge anyone their anger today. While I tend to demure from it, I think there’s something cathartic about lashing out on day like today with a little directionless anger. Some of the responses to the ruling I’ve read online seemed to unpack the frustration of our whole struggle into this one single opinion, and while it’s not constructive, I can appreciate its comfort. So be angry today, if you feel as though you must. Rage against this with others who share your anger and find some satisfaction in the camaraderie of outrage.

(tangential thought on anger today: Our anger can’t supersede our reason. While it might feel good to punch Maggie Gallagher in the face, it won’t necessarily further our cause. I’m not advocating punching Maggie Gallagher anywhere, mind you. Or anyone else, for that matter. It was just a random example. I just hope our anger becomes an informed anger, a respectful anger, one that blossoms into activism and advocacy. Not a bruised eye, a spray-painted wall, or unnecessarily hateful language directed at anyone.)

But don’t forget about those 18,000 couples.

When our anger subsides, and our lives return to normal, we will have 18,000 couples in California who are living examples of the power and benefit of marriage equality. And if we know what’s best for us, we are going to throw every ounce of resolve and determination behind those 18,000 couples and make sure every Californian (hell, every American while we’re at it) sees, in their faces, what marriage equality truly means and and looks like: loving and productive couples, loving and productive families, loving and productive people that make our communities better.

Today is a setback, not a defeat. When you doubt that, remember those 18,000 couples. And the couples in Massachusetts, in Connecticut, in Iowa, in Maine. We have proof that marriage equality doesn’t bring down the whole of Western Civilization. And we’ll have that proof tomorrow and every day after that.

Anger today. Activism tomorrow.

And to the 18,000 couples in California, congratulations. May your marriages last forever. They endured today. They can endure anything.

Prop 8 is upheld – there will be no new gay marriage in California. But the 18,000 couples in California who were married last summer will stay married.

More to come after we read the decision. Read the gay marriage decision for yourself.

In the meantime – want to protest? Check out DayofDecision.com to find an event tonight near you.

A great recap of how we came to this point is at the LA Times.

Prop 8 press conferences are live here until 2:30 EST.