The first thing I realized about The Brides of March was that it wasn't the usual impersonal polemic pushing for GLBT rights. Not that we don't need those who push political agendas: we do. It's just that I often find books about political movements rather, well, dry might be the kindest way to put it. The Brides of March is a refreshing change from dry - it's as wet as the diapers that need changing, the river Portland enjoys, the tears that are shed, the champagne you want to toast this couple with. When the book opens, the author has been in a stable long-term relationship with her partner Jannine for many years. The two of them are raising three children. Due to a temporary political fluke, Portland's Multnomah County issued marriage licenses without discrimination for a brief time in March 2004. The book is the author's first-person account of how she and her partner took advantage of that singular opportunity to be married; how their hearts were crushed when their marriage license was later nullified, and how they continued their commitment to each other and to their children through it all.She relates enough about their past to provide context and enough of their daily lives to provide a sense of what it's like to be part of their family. The author takes the reader along for the ride as they wait for the marriage license, go ring shopping, chase a toddler, welcome relatives to an impromptu reception, shed tears over rights subsequently lost, and feel righteous anger on vacation in Canada where "equal rights" actually means equal rights. There are other books on this topic, but few (if any) are written in such an intelligent, warm, witty voice. If you want to know what it's like to have the right to marry dangled in front of you, just out of arm's reach - this is the book you want to read.