Tuesday, January 20, 2009

I Hope.

At exactly noon today, Bush will no longer be our president and Obama will. Yeah, our time has come, hopefully. I hate to sound cynical, but haven't we been here before. Promises, catering to our demands to garnish our votes (damn, now I am hungry), only to be let down (Clinton, Don't ask, don't tell and DOMA.) I want to be optimistic, I want to feel like we now have a chance but, I can't. The passage of Prop 8 kind of took away a lot of my optimism. My parents deciding, like those who voted yes on 8, to not support my marriage, took away a lot of my optimism. I will wait and see if he makes good on his promise to get rid of don't ask, don't tell and DOMA. I will also wait and see if the state senators that the LGBT constituents helped get elected stand good on their promises as well. Although, I am trying to make a difference there by lobbying my State Senator, Roy McDonald on Marriage Equality Day (sign up to participate.) I know that I sound like a one issue person, and maybe I am. I am sorry, but this one issue is important to me. It is my life. Things other people take for granted we have to fight for. I know it is worse for others in other places. I know that is much braver for someone in Iraq, for instance, to be out. But, we are the United States of America. We are supposed to be the land of equality, the land of the free. We are supposed to be ahead of the curve. So I want to hope, I want to dream, I want to ride this new positive wave that everyone is on, but, it is a difficult one for me. I am going to watch the inauguration and maybe I can get inspired. I hope so.

Here is a list of my hopes for the next four years:
I hope that my marriage holds up in California.
I hope the CA Supreme Court invalidates Prop 8.
I hope the CA legislatures then pass marriage equality once and for all.
I hope NYS follows suit and passes a marriage equality bill, as well.
I hope that President Obama gets rid of don't ask and DOMA
I hope that President Obama starts talks about equalizing rights for gay americans.
I hope that I get all 1,324 NYS rights afforded to married couples.
I hope that I get all 1,138 federal rights afforded to married couples.
I hope my parents finally see me as a whole person and support my marriage.

Feel free to comment and leave your messages of hope. Here's to Obama and goodbye Bush.

1 comment:

Journal of a ____ said...

I HOPE that Obama works toward uniting people instead of dividing them. I HOPE that people can see me as a person who loves rather than a person who sins. I HOPE that soon people will understand that accepting and tolerating are two different things. I HOPE that all my wife's hopes come true.