This has been a great week for all our LGBT brothers and sisters, but I would argue it's been an even greater week for those of us who are not LGBT. I don't think overturning DOMA made gay folks better people; I think it made the rest of us better people. It certainly makes life easier for the LGBT community, but it takes those of us who are not gay one step closer to recognizing that we are not so much gay or straight or black or white or male or female as we are human. We're all on the same team.
There's a little more below the double gnocchi before you get to the good stuff, but, first, a word from our sponsor:
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Speaking of teams, Top Comments is a great team to be a part of. One of the best things is the lively, smart, and articulate group of gay Commenteers on the team. It is so much fun to interact with these warm and bright folks, and it helps make me a better human being by seeing the world through their eyes. I am enriched, not diminished.
Let's face it. People are people. One of these millennia we will realize that. In the meantime, we took another step toward that goal this week. There is still a long way to go before we can cure the prejudice and bigotry that resides in all of us. But making it illegal to act upon that bigotry is a great way to help us realize that it is wrong. It teaches us. It makes us better. It says we do not condone prejudice.
In 1965, the Voting Rights Act did the same thing for America. It helped make us a better country because it said racism is officially and legally wrong. I know the South is a much better place now than it was when I grew up in Georgia in the 1950's and 60's because of the VRA. I hope the VRA really is a dinosaur that has outlived its usefulness, but we must remain vigilant in our effort to make sure that bigotry and prejudice remain on the wrong side of the law.
So DOMA and Proposition 8 have fallen. San Francisco Pride has people dancing in the streets. It is the memory of a lifetime for the LGBT community, and it is a big step forward for all of us. I think the motto of Wake Forest University provides a nice two-word summary of the events of the week:
Image Credits:
Daily Kos Rainbow flag courtesy JekyllnHyde, who stole it from the DK Facebook page
Wake Forest seal courtesy alumni.wfu.edu
TOP COMMENTS
June 29, 2013
Thanks to tonight's Top Comments contributors! Let us hear from YOU
when you find that comment that is tops!
From BeninSC:
As a resident of a ... less advanced state than I would like, I really appreciated this comment from tb92, composed as a letter to the Democrats in Texas from a resident of California. Found in nomandates' terrific diary on the fight in Texas, the newest state in the tossup-to-be category.
From left over flower child and your humble diarist:
Mnemosyne offered a fine suggestion for getting Congress to act on climate change, and Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse offered a slight refinement to the plan in reply. This all happened in Meteor Blades' Green diary rescue: Interpreting the President on climate, plus wolves, LEDs and Landsat Earth art.
From Dave in Northridge:
In John Perr's takedown of Mike Huckabee's direct link to the Diety, zenbassoon starts a thread about Huckabee's ministerial credentials and gets terrific help from The Marti here and roberb7 here.
Leftcandid provides a succinct explanation of what David Dewhurst's tantrum REALLY means in Catte Nappe's diary about the aftermath of the people's filibuster in Texas. It was really difficult to pick from this wonderful comment thread started by Catte Nappe.
From Nattiq:
Offered without comment, this critique of Obamacare by 3rdOption in joelgp's dairy Obama's 50 Greatest Progressive Accomplishments.
From your humble diarist:
In catilinus' diary * New Day * -- How did YOU end up on KOS?, Meteor Blades shared one of his first comments at DK, from January 20, 2003.
rationalcauses offered up a touching rescued diary called Dear Matthew Shepard, and Buckeye54 expressed the feelings of many readers.
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TOP PHOTOS
June 28, 2013
Enjoy jotter's wonderful PictureQuilt™ below. Just click on the picture and it will magically take you to the comment that features that photo. Have fun, Kossacks!
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