A little part of history....

I went back and forth about posting about the election. After all, this is a blog about growing a boy. And then I realized that that is exactly why I should write about my feelings about the past election- I am raising a child and politics has everything to do with how I am able to raise my child and what he will learn about himself and the world.

So, history was made. Barack Obama is our president elect. Watching him during his speech on Tuesday night I realized that this truly was America's election, this choice was clearly a choice of the people, yes, we really can make a difference. I was so proud, so excited, so filled with hope for the world that my son will grow up in. Obama has given hope to those who never dared have it before. He has shown us that, yes, we can do whatever we set our minds to, that the country is ready for change and that this is the time. Inspiring. Amazing. I was brought to tears many times.

And then I woke up the next morning. I woke up to find that no, not all of us can do whatever we set our minds to. That, in the state of California, the rights of an entire group of people had been stripped from them. That the hard work of so many people, the phone calls, the donations, the rallying wasn't enough. I read in the paper today that this man that I had come to believe in, that the hope of America is resting on, Obama, also doesn't believe in gay marriage, but rather the 'separate but equal' idea of 'civil unions.' So, I awoke with a heavy heart.

I genuinely want to be able to move on but in good conscience cannot. I cannot move on knowing that a group of people have been denied a basic right because of lies, fear and misinformation. I was heartened to see that lawsuits are already being filed that people are rallying to the cause. That Christians and Mormons are coming out against their churches and the vast amounts of money that they spent on a campaign that takes away civil liberties for any group of people. Recognizing that if that can happen to lesbians and gays, it could happen to them as well. No one was taking away their right to marry, just trying to extend that right to all people.

I write about this on my 'parenting' blog because it has everything to do with being a parent. I may have to explain to my son why some people are not legally allowed to marry the person that they love, how it is that some people think that certain kinds of families are 'not right.' How do you explain to a child that some people should not be afforded rights that others take for granted? How do you explain legalized discrimination to a child? I sincerely hope we never have to have that conversation, but instead can deal with it in the past tense.

That's what this presidential election has done for us. We get to speak in the past tense about a time when there was such a racial divide that it couldn't be conceived that a black man could be president. But here we are. I truly believe that phrase taken from the civil rights movement, "Si se puede." Yes we can. And what gives me hope now is that if we can do this, we can also accomplish our next civil rights goal: equal rights for everyone.

Yes we can.