An instant classic:

There have been many powerful images made as the process for legalizing same-sex marriage in Washington has worked its way through debate, legislation, a vote and is now becoming a reality for many couples.

But none of those images have struck a chord like the photo above by Seattle photographer Meryl Schenker.

The picture shows Larry Duncan, 56, and Randy Shepherd, 48, as they apply for a marriage license in the King County Administration Building…

When told today that the photo was being shared on social media and starting to appear on national blogs, they both laughed. “That’s just who we are,” said Shepherd. 

Before I showed this photo to my lady friend I had mentioned how Washington just legalized gay marriage. Her first response was something along the lines, “Oh, that’s cool.” But then she stopped and noted how remarkable it is that already, just eight years removed from a presidential campaign in which the victor supported a constitutional ban on it, same-sex marriage was becoming so normalized that its legalization in yet another state is merely a nice development among countless others in a swirling world and not some kind of arresting moment of societal transcendence. And it’s true!

There’s obviously still a lot to be done by the LGBTQ community (as well as its hetero fellow-travelers) before we could call America a place where LGBTQ people live in full equality with their fellow citizens. But when even the Latter Day Saints are turning toward a more inclusive, humane, and enlightened understanding of human sexuality, you know something big is happening, fast — and the more it recedes into the cacophony of the daily news, the more it shows it’s here to stay.