I think it's indicating that there is a demand for cards like this, and it's enough to outpace the people who will supposedly boycott Hallmark (as if that's actually possible, they fucking own every holiday now)

I think there's something to be said when an evil corporate overlord thinks a certain demographic has become a valuable consumer market.

I think it means we're on the right track.

I've lived in MA since long before the court decision here, and I have been to a lot of drugstores, and I've never seen one of these. It's about damn time!

I never have the urge to comment on this site, mainly because I agree with most of what's posted and can't add anything constructive.

I have to say, this post upset me. We want the whole world to recognize the rights of same-sex couples, but when they start to do so, we complain about it?

Please don't misunderstand; I hate Hallmark as much as the next feminist. In fact, I recently had an extremely difficult time buying my roommate a birthday card that didn't imply she was ugly, old, fat, stupid, obsessed with shopping, constantly drunk, obsessed with men, obsessed with sex, etc.

But we run around saying, "Hey, you big corporate jerks, why don't you stop treating women and same-sex couples and minorities like they don't exist!" And then they say, "Okay, here are some same-sex marriage greeting cards." Our response shouldn't be, "But you're evil! You can't respect same-sex marriage! It's against the rules!"

At least, this is how the author's opinion comes across to me. I think we should celebrate the change and work to cause more, rather than getting offended that it's the corporatist machine that's starting to recognize what we're asking them to recognize.

I should have written, "Hey, you big corporate jerks, why don't you stop treating women and same-sex couples and minorities like they don't exist or are inferior!" I just realized that. Apologies.

My apologies if the post offended. I obviously do think we should be happy about this, which I thought I said at the end of the post. I just felt it necessary to also acknowledge Hallmark's bad rep before jumping up and down and praising them for it.

Hallmark's consumer base seems like it's, like, 95% the middle America crowd. I give it three weeks before outraged Christian groups threaten boycotts and a shitstorm of bad PR and the cards get pulled.

Guess I'm a pessimist or something.

I think this is a very good thing, regardless of hallmark's motives. I have a gay friend getting married, and he just wants to feel normal being who he is. If cards like this are mainstreamed, I think it's another baby step towards accepting gays as normal (not to say there's anything wrong with being abnormal, but you catch my drift).

Well the boycott has begun

This is fantastic! I just finished about a year of working at my local Hallmark and was always frustrated that we only had one "gay" card: a congrats-for-coming-out card that never even mentioned the word "gay" (it just had a big rainbow on the front). Hopefully Hallmark won't listen to the protests.

I haven't bought a card in a store for any occasion in the last ten years for the exact reasons SlytherinPrefect mentions (well, except maybe for a wedding, 'cause those events are usually so barfalicious anyway). As a queer person, I was over the whole gay marriage thing before it even got started, and the fact that Hallmark is making cards for this new occasion in our cultural lexicon just reaffirms my antagonism towards it. Mostly because clearly the gay marriage thing is banal and assimilationist enough that a mainstream corporation can see it as a marketing opportunity and not an actual threat to structures in place. (e.g., the crappy monogamist til-death-do-us-part-even- if-we-make-each-other-miserable claptrap that hasn't been working for straight people the last 70 years.. and now queers want to jump on board a sinking ship??)

whoa! kinda went off there.... :-)

Hallmark isn't the first company to offer same-sex wedding cards. I've seen them, along with same-sex "congratulations to the new mommies/daddies" cards, but only at a feminist/gay-friendly bookstore. Hallmark is still the first major greeting card company to do this, AFAIK.

Is there any reason why generic wedding cards won't work? I sense a marketing ploy here.

I saw the cards today at Walgreens. :)

"Is there any reason why generic wedding cards won't work?"

Because 99% of them have hetero images or gendered wording on them? I can't even find a romantically-minded BIRTHDAY card for my fiance that isn't gendered to indicate a heterosexual relationship. It does get old after awhile, and not all of us are fortunate enough to live in close proximity to an "alternative" gay-friendly store that sells gender neutral greeting cards.

nerdmeyr- I understand being critical of the institution of marriage in general, but there's no need to be condescending toward those of us who wish to participate in it. Some of us, regardless of sexual orientation, are into monogamy. I don't judge others, so please don't judge me. Jeez.

Anyways, I kind of like the hallmark thing. I'm not a cheerleader of capitalism by any means, but I do appreciate that hallmark weighed the pros and cons of indirectly endorsing same sex marriage and decided it was worth it. I'm not jumping up and down to be normalized, but it will be nice to be able to walk by a card store display and not feel completely alienated for once.

although they are all about the money, i'm glad they have same sex marriage cards. if everyone keeps on hopping aboard, there will be equality for all(oh, i sound cheesy.) :)

I haven't seen these yet, but I'll keep an eye out.

Although I think that Hallmark cards are either extremely cheesy or extremely stereotypical, I applaud them for this. This shows that we are slowly starting evolve.In a couple years, maybe these cards will be as widely marketed as heterosexual ones, and people will accept homosexuality.

Hallmark risked upsetting some very conservative,anti-gay customers by doing this, but at the same time,they are widening their market.

Anyways, this is definitely a good thing.