The Times, They Are A-changin'

A mom of mine (I have several) sent me a text message last Saturday that said "I hope you are watching Obama's speech on CNN right now". Well, I had to grab the remote from the wife, and turn it on immediately. Obama was making a speech at the HRC dinner (Human Rights Campaign - largest gay & lesbian lobbying group), on the eve of a Gay & Lesbian march on Washington. It was truly moving - at the end of it, I had tears in my eyes. I wanted to share a snippet with all of you:

"My expectation is that when you look back on these years, you will see a time in which we put a stop to discrimination against gays and lesbians -- whether in the office or on the battlefield. You will see a time in which we as a nation finally recognize relationships between two men or two women as just as real and admirable as relationships between a man and a woman. You will see a nation that's valuing and cherishing these families as we build a more perfect union -- a union in which gay Americans are an important part. I am committed to these goals. And my administration will continue fighting to achieve them."

There were so many moving moments in that speech. Overall it was a feeling that I had when it was over. The President of the United States called our relationships as valid as any relationship between a man and a woman. He recognized that we are a family. He expressed a dedication to equality for gays and lesbians. And he understood, and showed support for, the continuing struggles we face. One more really moving piece:

"For the struggle waged by the Human Rights Campaign is about more than any
policy we can enshrine into law. It's about our capacity to love and commit to
one another. It's about whether or not we value as a society that love and
commitment. It's about our common humanity and our willingness to walk in
someone else's shoes: to imagine losing a job not because of your performance at
work but because of your relationship at home; to imagine worrying about a
spouse in the hospital, with the added fear that you'll have to produce a legal
document just to comfort the person you love -- to imagine the
pain of losing a partner of decades and then discovering that the law treats you
like a stranger."

Maybe, just maybe, this world is getting better.

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/11/obamas-speech-text-transc_n_316844.html)