rivers_bend

Thanks to the fact that I can't seem to stop waking up at six in the morning even though it's been five years since I had to, I was checking my twitter feed at 6:04 and saw @barackobama's tweet of the link to the livestream of the signing of the repeal of DADT. Obama, as he is wont to do, gave a moving and wonderful speech. I, as I am wont to do, cried in all the right places. And I am so glad this finally got done and that the ball on this is finally seriously rolling. I eagerly await the "military readiness" that will mean this law will be fully enacted and not just voted on and signed.

The most moving part for me was the acknowledgment that men and women are being asked to give up their integrity in order to serve their country. That it's difficult to be asked to keep secrets, to lie. And that these people are willing to fight for rights that they don't have themselves. These queer men and women are fighting so that other people may keep the lifestyle queer soldiers have no access to. Thank you, president Obama for putting that in your speech. And I dearly hope that you were laying groundwork for soon-to-come laws that will mean these soldiers who can die for their country can also enjoy its basic freedoms. I'm trying to be patient.

But as wonderful as this moment was, and as glad as I am that I saw it happen, it is hard to be patient when one is being told that she lives in a country where "All men and women are created equal," but in most states equality doesn't extend to the right to marry, and in many states it doesn't extend to the right to keep a picture of your family on her desk at work and also keep your job, and in many states that family picture won't include children if you were planning on adopting, and in many states it doesn't include the right to rent any one-bedroom apartment you want with your partner. These are not SPECIAL rights. This is not the expectation to be let in to that exclusive club that only 2% of the town belongs to anyway where you can hand the keys to your $25,000 car over to a gold-jacketed valet and go get a massage and play golf. This is basic life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness stuff.

We are not the first group of people to be denied basic human rights and freedoms in this country which touts equality for all. Not by any stretch of the imagination. And in two-and-a-quarter centuries, great strides have been made. For that I am grateful. And I am so glad this day has come. This morning I want to celebrate that we got here. But I don't plan on resting on my laurels, and I hope my representatives in Sacramento and Washington don't plan to either.