I had an unexpected moment hearing Rachel Maddow state that for the first time in U.S. history, two states had voted at the ballot box to recognize marriage equality. I thought of what that would have meant to me as a teenager first coming to terms with being gay, but believing that I didn't have to end my life as long as I stayed in hiding and dissociated from peers and family who would never understand, or so I thought. I shut so many people out, prejudging them as potential threats. I learned to reflexively discount what other people thought and said as a means of survival. I was there, but I was never really there. Being a detached privately elitist bookworm may have been empowering in a sophomoric sense, but it grew hollow over time. My first boyfriend referred to me as a "robot." He meant it lightheartedly, but he was right.
I've been out now for 13 years and am far removed from the initial adjustment period. It's long since settled. When I saw the results from Maine and Maryland, I was suddenly choked up. To feel fully enfranchised is amazing in its own right and then to think about the impact that full embrace has in those formative years... It would have changed my life. It will change lives. Thank you, Maine, Maryland, Washington, and Minnesota.
This was the most fulfilling election of my life. It answered so many haunting questions. Is there a limit to how much brazen lying we'll endure? Yes. Are we powerless in the era of Citizens United? No. Are Americans so depraved that they'll turn a blind eye to the brazenly casual dismissal of rape? No. Can a lesbian be a U.S. Senator? Yes. Who discredits a statistician based on "gut feeling"? A fool.
The GOP made a strategic choice to flip off Latinos and African Americans and make the difference up by simply restricting the right to vote. A choice was made not to listen to the voices of the country's people but instead to ramrod antagonism through airwaves with surreptitiously financed sleaze. Prurient religious groups committed again to advancing "family values" by destroying their neighbors' ability to form a family. Karma spoke. Every low road taken led to a dead end.
These results are everything I could have hoped for and more, a real affirmation. I have never been so proud to be part of this country. Thank you.
(And Focus on the Family, please focus on your own family.)