This 49 year old white descendant of the slave holders of Virginia, born into a segregated South, who experienced a painful desegregation of his school at 7 years old...
took his 6 year old black daughter, descendant of slaves of Arkansas into the voting booth this afternoon...
to vote for the first black president of the United States of America in over two centuries, a son of a white woman and a black man.
The depth of the meaning was overwhelming.
This 49 year old gay man who was beaten for being gay, subjected to aversion therapy to force a change, a convert to Mormonism at 18, who was excommunicated from his faith at 38 because of the love of a man, the man he, for the first time legally, married just days ago,
took their adopted daughter, a child who loves her daddy and papa and is overjoyed at their marriage, into the voting booth this afternoon...
to vote against an constitutional amendment that would take away that right and equality fought for over so many decades.
The depth of the meaning was overwhelming.
"Now Papa?" she asked barely containing herself with excitement.
"Yes" I answered and asked our sweet and amazing daughter to point out Obama's name. My hand trembled. My heart burst. My eyes welled. Our daughter took hold of my hand, steadied the ballot and we marked "Obama" together.
I could barely contain my heart. Our sweet daughter was giddy.
My eyes. I could barely see.
We marked no on proposition 8 together, the proposition that would take away our family's equal standing before the law. The proposition that says her family is not valuable. We marked it several times over to make the point clear.
We held hands as we walked out of that voting booth. The import what what we just did overwhelmed me.
I began to cry. My daughter, giddy herself, asked why I was crying.
"Happiness, dear, because I think we just helped change the world"
My husband, I and our sweet daughter walked out. Two of us crying, one giggling.
Wow. Just. Wow.
update: I'm watching the election with friends. Thank you so much everyone. I almost too tearyeyed to write :). and thanks to my friend for fixing my 'sobbian' mistake I made though teary eyes.
THANK YOU so much everyone. I can't tell you how EXCITED we are to be able to say President Obama!!! Our daughter has been tranfixed on the TV watching Obama and his family. I got to get her to bed, school tomorrow!!