* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
It simply didn't occur to me that we could dare to ask for this much, let alone get this far, in so little time
I was in a subway car in New York City when my phone vibrated with the news that same-sex marriage is now a right in the United States.
I gaped then looked at my fellow passengers for whom it seemed nothing had changed. The white-haired man in front of me was still reading his newspaper, the woman next to him still holding her bag of groceries.
But in fact, everything had changed.
On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that gay couples can marry in all 50 states, handing a historic win to the American gay rights movement. The words of Justice Anthony Kennedy best sum up a decades-old struggle that affected many millions of people across the United States.
"In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were...It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage,” he wrote.
"Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization's oldest institutions. They ask for equal rights in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right."
Today's decision was a much-anticipated one for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community (LGBT). However, I couldn't help but catch my breath when I glanced down at my phone and read the news.
I grew up in a country, Italy, where marriage between people of the same sex is not even up for discussion.
In high school, the word 'gay' was the preferred and most common insult among boys. And I would laugh at it, too.
Although I'm sure they existed, homosexuals were not really coming out. And I doubt many people knew what the term 'transgender' meant.
All of this happened a mere 10 years ago.
It simply didn't occur to me that we could dare to ask for this much, let alone get this far, in so little time.
There has been a radical shift in public opinion in the U.S., where gay marriage has gained increasing acceptance in opinion polls, particularly among youth.
Just last month, Irish voters backed same-sex marriage by a landslide.
Ireland followed several Western European countries including Britain, France and Spain in allowing gay marriage, which is also legal in South Africa, Brazil and Canada. But homosexuality remains taboo and often illegal in many parts of Africa and Asia.
Some friends have asked me why marriage is so important to LGBT people when in many countries including the one I like to call home, the United States, same-sex couples already enjoy a wide array of rights.
And some within the LGBT community don't view marriage equality as a priority when, for example, transgender people are being murdered across the country on a daily basis.
I'm not sure I have a good response to all these points.
However, I do know one thing: Today, LGBT people have gained one more right that might help us fulfill our own happiness, a right that most people take for granted.
After years of feeling 'different', it's good being part of the norm, at least in the eyes of the law.
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