Monday, February 13, 2012

Monday February 13th ~ 2012

Today was a huge day for Lesbian and Gay rights. On this day, in Olympia Washington, Gov. Chris Gregoire handed gay rights advocates a major victory by signing into law a measure that legalizes same-sex marriage in Washington state, making it the seventh state our the nation to allow gay and lesbian couples to wed.

Gregoire signed the bill surrounded by gay rights supporters. "I'm proud our same-sex couples will no longer be treated as separate but equal," she said.

Maureen Walsh a Republican made an amazing speech on February 8th that came close to making me cry.



I am 48 years old and life for gays in this country was so different when I was growing up. I grew up in the Ohio mid-west and a large portion of my youth was spent hiding who I was from the world. But I had an outlet that gave me support and security that so many in this country have not been lucky enough to experience.

When I was 16, I discovered the Dayton Playhouse, a community theatre group in downtown Dayton and in that group of amazing and wonderful people I was surrounded by a circle of acceptance. In that world I found the ability to experience and express my own personal growth in safety. These people and this place gave me something that I wish every youth in this country and in this world could have.

My time in this place imbued in me with a foundation of self-assurance, self-reliance and inner-strength that no bullying could harm my soul and no hatred could take root in my heart. This acceptance of me let me understand that acceptance of difference was a foundation for inner peace. My time with these people and in that theatre instilled in me a compassion for humanity that has stayed with me to this day and it taught me to truly love who I was ~ inside and out.

So, when I saw this video and I read about the courage of the Governor Gregoire to confront her own personal issues and embrace this movement it gave me hope.

And there is nothing in this would that is more encouraging than hope.

“There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance. We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create. Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life.” ~ John Lennon ~

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