Post-election...

Like many gay people, I have ambivalent feelings following the historical and monumental election here in the U.S. this past week. While I feel gratitude for living in a time when we have seen our first bi-racial president elect, I feel sadness and anger over the passing of more anti-equality measures in Florida, Arkansas, Arizona and California. I remember well the surges of frustration I felt a couple years ago every time I would see a "One Man One Woman" bumper sticker or the "Yes on 36" signs here in Oregon when the discriminatory ballot measured passed here, and it has all been brought back with Proposition 8. For those of you who haven't experienced it, it is amazingly disheartening knowing that friends, neighbors and family members are still casting votes to ensure that discrimination and unequal rights continue.

As a mom, tax payer, community volunteer and someone who considers herself an all-around citizen, I know I am in good company with my many gay friends. We all have families, homes, pets and are generally contributing to the well-being and livability of the communities in which we live. We may not be super-human, but we are at least human! I confess that as all three of my kids braved typical rainy Oregon weather to be at my house on election night, I felt incredibly blessed to have such smart, interested and involved kids--who wanted to share the evening with their mom. They cared, Lucy voted, Lilly pounded the pavement for Obama and all three of them had intelligent opinions about current events. It is strange to acknowledge that their gay mom has less rights than any of the heterosexual people they know--the person who birthed them, raised them and who continues to be so involved with their lives.

I know that I will get past the anger and the sadness and continue to be involved--certainly even more involved than I have been. I truly wish I could be celebrating and enjoying the dawn of the new day that the election of a new president is bringing to many but as long as there is any inequality in America, there is inequality for all...