It is hard for me to express the tremendous joy I am feeling tonight; pride in my country and pride that I was able to elect this man to lead it:

Just last night, I sat on my couch feeling deflated upon hearing the latest news out of North Carolina. I felt a sense of foreboding, as my own home state will vote on a similar amendment this November. I am so ashamed that this is something that would ever be on a general ballot in my state. After all, I was raised in the belief that Hubert H. Humphrey made the world go ’round, that Golden Boy of MN. Heck, I even went and worked at his Job Corps Center after being licensed to teach. What happened to our dyed-in-the-wool true blue liberalism? How did we get to the place of spineless politicians wanting to lay the blame for retrograde movement at the feet of the constituents? The gravitational pull of our constitution has always been in the direction of expanding rights, protecting citizens, not limiting them or further disenfranchising them. That Minnesota Nice might mask Minnesota Passive-Aggresive Disagreement With Your “Lifestyle Choice” is the stuff of my nightmares.

I hope with every fiber of my being that, come November, Minnesota will have the balls (like the President of the United States did today) and will become the first state to say NO to this constitutional bigotry. And if it comes up again, continue to say NO. This is an issue of civil rights, people. Anyone who has ever sat up all night with a friend who was afraid for their very lives and happiness as a result of who they loved knows that this is the issue of our times. Anyone who’s held someone as they faced the harsh reality of this new social quagmire knows this is no matter of choice, and that our human family needs our resolved support and unconditional love, not our unfounded judgments or proselytizing.

I was listening to NPR at one point this afternoon, and heard the “Political Junkies” portion of Talk of the Nation where they were talking about just this issue with regard to North Carolina and the Vice President’s remarks on the subject over the weekend. All the “experts” on the show speculated that the President would not come out in the “Good Morning America” interview in unequivocal favor of gay marriage. They thought he’d micro-target on the issue, speaking about it at functions with more progressive people and stepping away from it in more moderate company. They spoke of the political dangers of making a “blanket” statement in support of gay marriage. I sat in my car at a stoplight, nearly breathless as the importance of this opportunity weighed heavy on my heart. I prayed right then and there that My President would have the balls to stand up for what is just. What is right. And yes, I did actually speak that phrase aloud in my whispered car-prayer (sacrilege!)

And when I got home from school with all my sons, whose attractions and loves are not yet known, I was elated to hear that My President did, in fact, have the cajones. My children might just get to live in a world where marriage is a beautiful and sacred option for ALL of God’s children. My President, who put his political neck on the line, may just lose re-election in this totally mad country because of it. But he did what was loving, just, and RIGHT. And so, if for some reason That Other Guy wins in November, this Man With the Balls can stand tall, because he is on the right side of history. And this is one for the books.

(P.S. And, as I said on Facebook, POTUS is TOTALLY invited to Seth’s birthday party now. I will not allow uninviting him!)

*Quote from Aesop, from the fable “Bundle of Sticks”.