Tuesday, March 26, 2013

What I did today....

So for those of you that are friends with me on Facebook you saw my profile picture change today as well as my banner picture. I used the new red equality symbol to show my support for marital equal rights. For those of you that don't I will add them here along with how I captioned them so you know what I am talking about.
It's not special rights, it's equal rights.


How could I say that my right to a marriage and a family was any more important than yours? How could I deny you the same things I have always just taken for granted that I could have? 

The answer is I can't.

Now I know that changing my profile picture and my banner art isn't going to influence the Supreme Court's decisions over the next few days. And I know there are more than a few people out there in world who see these changes and snort derisively about slacktavism.  But I also know that I have liked seeing the symbol pop up in my feed through the day. I've seen it from the usual suspects but I've also seen it from a few people I wasn't expecting to. And that made me smile. Because that for me is what this is about. Saying in a quiet way, "I stand with you."

And of course for me I've been saying it in a not so quiet way for a long time. I know that in my lifetime I've helped to change the minds of two people about equal rights in general and equal marital rights specifically. I know about these two because they told me it was my passion, what I felt, and how I presented the issue to them that swayed them. Now you say, two people? That's it? Well I don't know if there have been others.  I hope there have. But I do know there have been these two. And just like the old shampoo commercial from the 70s if these two people tell two people and they tell two people and they tell two people...Well then you get a feed full of red equality signs.

Do I know how the Supreme Court is going to rule? I don't. I wish I did. I can't guarantee that there won't be another set back on the road to equality. But what I do know, what I do see is that we are reaching a tipping point in America. A place where people are starting to understand that equality must be for all not just for some. That there is a light at the end of what looked to be a very long dark tunnel. That more and more people are saying, "I stand with you."

And for this I change my profile picture.

And I cross my fingers.

And I send a wish for more change out in to the world.

And I say a thank you for how far we've come. Because sometimes it's easy to lose sight of the road we've already walked when we see what's still in front of us.

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