My optimistic return

So, I haven't posted in a really long time. And I sort of accepted that my blogging days were over, just given the complete lack of time that I have to do anything aside from school work, regular work... and sleeping. However, I really missed it, so I think I'm going to start it up again.

Yesterday's election was really what inspired me to return to the blogosphere. (I can't believe I actually just used that word.)

I am upset about Bloomberg winning and I'm upset about Christie winning. Bloomberg's abuse of the system to gain a third term is inexcusable and Christie stands opposite my views on almost every issue there is. But, more disappointing than that was hearing that Maine residents voted to reject a law to legalize same-sex marriage. Had they voted to keep it, it would have been the first time gay marriage triumphed due to a popular vote. But alas, we lost and the law legalizing same-sex marriage was rejected.

So, clearly, I'm upset and I'm angry. The culmination of all these setbacks are really frustrating and disheartening. I didn't think it could get any worse than Prop 8 and the disgusting fear-mongering tactics used by the defend marriage campaign. But yesterday's vote just added to the setbacks from last years election.

However, despite the fact that I'm upset and disappointed, I think it's really important to note that although the media is focusing on this loss as a huge loss for the GLBT movement, I would disagree. Marriage is but ONE goal of the gay liberation movement, at least for me. Although the media rarely reports on victories unrelated to marriage or hate-crimes laws (which are of course, really important)... that doesn't mean there aren't any.

This movement, although moving forward, is undoubtedly going to be met with opposition. And because of that opposition, we are going to have our setbacks. But what's important is to focus on the victories... and within the past few weeks, there have been a few.

1. First of all, the Ricketts family is now the owner of the MLB Cubs. This is important because Laura Ricketts, one of the owners is openly gay. She has served on the board of Lambda Legal (which fights for gay marriage) and has been very open about her sexuality. Professional sports are infamously known for being extremely homophobic so I think this is a tremendous step in awareness and hopefully, inclusion.

2. Secondly, there was another victory in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The openly gay mayoral candidate, Mark Kleinschmidt won the election and has become the third openly gay mayor in the state. I had no idea (previous to reading about Kleinschmitd) that there had been any other gay mayors in North Carolina, so all in all, this was a pleasant surprise.

3. In Kalamazoo, Michigan, an anti-discrimination law was passed to protect the LGBT community. Gender identity and sexual orientation were added to the 1866 anti-discrimination ordinance.

4. And let us not forget, the greatest victory of all - the passing of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act signed into law by Obama on October 28th. What's most important is that this bill was introduced EIGHT years ago. It has failed over and over and over again until this year. To add to the victory, Obama has designated 5 million dollars to the Justice Department to help investigate hate crimes.


So, yes, yesterday's vote in Maine was a huge upset. As are all of the losses. But for every loss, it's really important that we consider the victories, however small they may be.

One step back... many steps forward.