Equalt*, Equlit* (for Equality)

There was one dissenting hit on the typo Equlit* in OhioLINK this morning, along with three for Equalt*. Of the latter, however, only one was a typo; the other two were for "Equaltime" books and a long title about astronomy from 1825 containing the phrase "a five-feet equaltorial instrument employed in the observations." Actually, that's an apparent typo too, but for the word equatorial. In any event, today's typo may not be one we tend to make all that readily since it represents a word that has been written repeatedly on the pages of history. Equality was granted under New York State law while history was being made late Friday night (signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo at 11:55 pm), when the legislature passed the Marriage Equality Act, giving homosexuals the right to get married. Gay marriage is an issue currently being debated and decided all over the world, in countries as diverse as Nepal, New Zealand, and Nigeria. The French protestor in the photo shown above holds up a sign that, translated, reads: "And why not unions with animals?" He cites Brigitte Bareges (their version of, sadly, more than one antigay politician in the United States) as his source. It seems that people are pretty much alike all around the globe—despite equatorial instruments employed in the observations—which is a thought that can afford us both hope and despair.

(Toulouse Gay Pride 2011 in Toulouse, France, on June 18th, 2011, by Guillaume Paumier, from Wikimedia Commons.)

Carol Reid