My big fat shotgun wedding

I got married the other day.

Yup, just like that. After an hour of mulling it over, I eloped to City Hall to marry my wonderful live-in boyfriend whom I love and have been with for a year and a half. No, I’m not pregnant (eye roll). No, my now-husband is not an illegal immigrant.

So why the shotgun wedding? One (evidently all-too-common ) reason: health insurance.

My bf is a bartender and a student whose school’s insurance is exorbitant. I’m a reporter who works for a company that has a kick-ass medical plan. Without going into too much detail, a domestic partnership affadavit was standing in the way of my partner having awesome coverage and escaping $8000 worth of retroactive hospital bills. It was a no-brainer. Onto domestic partnership!

Problem is, the state of Illinois doesn’t let you get domestic partnership if you’re hetero . ("If they could, no one would get married!" the City Hall employee informed me smugly, as if 1. that fact was actually true and 2. rampant domestic partnerships would mean the end of the world.) Apparently you can’t be a part of the "system" if you’re queer, and you can’t opt out of the "system" if you’re straight. It started to seem so ridiculously arbitrary—and unfair! Did I really have to choose between leaving my honey vulnerable to unthinkable medical costs and a measly, $50 piece of paper?

The choice was obvious. We went ahead and got married (and fast, because my company’s deadline for insurance stuff was the next day). The weird thing was, people were soooo into it! It was like I had become part of some coveted club, or even a higher-class citizen.  I understood more than ever why gay marriage was such a big deal. I also started to get why people become so wrapped up in weddings. It’s your moment. All eyes are on you . Out of nowhere, long-lost friends are posting on your Facebook wall. Suddenly, everybody loves you!

It’s a situation that’s left me contemplating my feminism—by getting insurance-married on the fly, did I "give in" or did I give tradition the finger? Maybe a little bit of both? I have nothing against weddings (what’s better than a celebration of love?) but the government "certificate" thing has always made me a little indignant. Either way, I feel like giving my partner health and peace of mind is just as much of a gesture of feminist love as anything else.

Thoughts?