I dreaded my trip to Texas this weekend for the longest time. My second oldest sister (shock of shocks-i'm catholic) was celebrating a milestone birthday. Although she is many years older than i it was a marker that i didn't want to miss. Many times over the past few months i've played with reasons why i couldn't make this trip, mostly so i didn't have to be the recipient of red state hate. My older brother won't even speak to me anymore because of my 'won't go to the back of the bus' politics in an area where issues are no longer even discussed (like living inside Fox News 24/7). I'm the flaming gay liberal in my family, a large group that contains bisexuals and gays that hide inside the mainstream rather than overtly confront the Red Tide that is Texas 2005.
Boy, am I glad I sucked it in and got on the plane.
My family lives in the Texas heartland. Not Austin Texas or the Mexican border blue part of Texas but Houston white-flight north of town God help me the darkies are coming to take over Texas and my nieces and nephews, my hope for the future, sauntered south of town to be pioneers in an area that is now known as DeLays's district. For several years I have watched them back a speck farther every time i visited, and because of that i visited a little less every year or two because it just wasn't enjoyable on the whole.
But something happened this time. Just when i expected it to be worse than ever before, it shifted. During the birthday party, attended by about 70 people, over several hours people saddled up to me and whispered under their breaths a multitude of very encouraging things. My eldest sister who is a very staunch 'good girl' from the 50's who did everything expected of her, finds her life in many ways around her ankles. Her eldest son, who she put all her love and attention is an FBI agent at a time when the FBI is topsy-turvy and i wonder if he reports any of the gray areas of his job. Her twin daughters now live in DeLay-ville and are subtly shifting their views. One came up and told me her sister is worried about losing her job. She's a policewoman and the local political race is about trimming the fat and in this case it means her. Her sister said "Is the Democrat trying to take your job away" in typical Texas fashion and her sister replied "No, it's the other Republican that's running against my representative". Therein lies the rub, she has a race with no Democrats at all, just the incumbent Republican trying to keep the status-quo and the challenger, another Republican who wants to cut taxes even more and 'trim the fat' where there is very little, just the lubrication that keeps things going. Who are they going to blame now? It's like metal against metal and guess who is going to get press and quite soon? The Democrats. Who in the hell else will save them from themselves?
On top of that my Catholic aunt, the most Christ-like woman I have ever had the pleasure to have known came up to me and was livid about Bush and his co-opting of the Schiavo case as well as the Pope's passing. She sees it all as horrible political grandstanding and wants his head on a platter. This was the theme of the evening, everyone coming to unload their disgust with the Texas status-quo because they knew they would have a sympathetic ear.
Bush's coalition is evaporating by the minute. Don't give up your fight for what you know is true, up is up and black is black, don't buy their deception and propaganda. My own family, who once could only think of me as being suspect because of my political beliefs, now started saying kind things to me and making skeptical asides at my brother who boycotted the event because of his feelings about my political beliefs. He is the one now on the run and because I've held my ground in a loving fashion he now is seen as the family Emperor who is now dressed much more scantily than he knows.
Stay true to yourselves Kossacks and don't budge an inch where your gut is concerned. Just do it civilly and smile while working like hell for positive change. Victory is ours as their hubris has caught up with them, even in the middle of their staunchest bunkers.