A Grand Day

Dear Friends,

We won!
By now you’ve heard the great and grand news: the Supreme Court has struck down DOMA and restored the right to marry for California same-sex couples. This day, June 26, 2013, joins a handful of others as truly historic, world-changing milestones on our long road to justice, dignity, and freedom.

At last
At last, survivors like Edie Windsor will be spared having to deal with rank discrimination while grieving their partners’ loss. At last, binational couples – thousands and thousands of them – will be able to sponsor their spouses for green cards, and the stain on our nation’s laws known as the Defense of Marriage Act will be erased.

And, yes, at last, after five years of struggle, loving couples from San Diego to Modesto to Eureka – and all points in between – will be able to choose to marry.

And, yes, oh happy words to write: The insult to all of us – LGBT people and all lovers of fairness and freedom – that was Proposition 8 is dead.

I remember another end-of-term Supreme Court decision, now 27 years ago, when the court upheld anti-sodomy laws in the infamous Bowers v. Hardwick case. I remember so easily the rage that I felt upon hearing the news.

Today is so, so blessedly different. Today, we have not one, but two, splendid legal victories. And they’re much more than simply courtroom triumphs. The process of litigating these cases – and the other challenges to DOMA in particular – that turned America into a countrywide classroom in which the absurdity and wrongfulness of DOMA and Prop 8 were there for all to see.

All of us, together
All of us at Horizons Foundation extend many, many congratulations to these cases’ plaintiffs, their attorneys, and the legal teams. They have helped make history. 

History, however, has been made by every single one of us who has donated, marched, persuaded, protested, written, canvassed, voted, lobbied, educated, spoken out, or litigated to move LGBT people down this road to justice, dignity, and freedom. History happened today – and in all the thousands of days and hours and minutes of hard work, generosity, vision, and commitment that led to today.

We all have a great deal – a grand deal – to be proud of.

With profound gratitude and in deepest pride,

Roger Doughty,
Executive Director

No matter what… celebrate!

My first San Francisco Pride took place 21 years ago. I’d become involved in planning the 1993 March on Washington, and someone had obtained the giant rainbow flag, the one that stretches for something like half a city block. Dozens of volunteers carried it. My job was to walk alongside and exhort spectators to toss money into the flag.

By the end, I’d shouted myself hoarse but had lived a magical hour. I’ll never forget turning onto Market Street down near the Embarcadero, looking up through that canyon of buildings, the street lined with thousands of excited people, and that vast flag in front, its colors fluttering in the morning breeze.

We all have our “first Pride” stories, chapters in our own tales of awareness, acceptance, and embrace. This time of year, especially if you’re a victim of “Pride Day fatigue” – that “been there, done that” feeling – take a moment to remember your first Pride. I’ll bet you can remember the thrill, the sense of discovery, celebration, and simple power, too.

Holding Our Breath
This year’s Pride feels a little different. Right now, it’s as though we’re holding our collective breath. We’re keeping an eye on Supreme Court blogs and legal listservs waiting for The Decisions to come down. It might be tomorrow – or not until June 27, the very eve of Pride weekend –and the last day of the court’s term.

For us, of course, these decisions will be more than headlining news items; they’ll be more than historic events. They’ll be markers – important markers – along our road to equality, justice, and freedom.

No Matter What. . .
The Decisions, though, don’t tell the whole story. Not by any means. For irrespective of what nine justices have to say, I know three things to be true this Pride.

First, we have an enormous amount to be proud of. Just look at where our community stands today – now 12 states plus D.C. with marriage equality. More openly LGBT people in public office than ever before. Soldiers getting married. Nearly 60% of Californians voicing support for same-sex marriage, and even higher percentages favoring nondiscrimination protections.

We – all of us, together, no matter what the Supreme Court rules – are moving a mountain. Rock by rock, and after we’ve chipped away, decade after decade, that mountain has started to crumble under the weight of its own falsehoods.  And that’s something to be deeply proud of, in this Pride season and for many to come.

Second: we’ll still have a lot of mountain to move however wonderful – or disappointing – the rulings turn out to be. Except in the most optimistic scenarios, same-sex couples will continue to be excluded from marriage equality in more than 70% of the United States. Public opinion trends notwithstanding, in more than half of the states, it will still be legal to fire someone for being LGBT. Life hasn’t gotten better yet for tens of thousands of LGBT youth who are surrounded by hostility and ignorance. In Russia, “gay propaganda” has just been outlawed, with severe penalties promised those brave enough to defy the ban.

Third, it’s our individual and collective pride that will propel us to keep at that mountain. We know that we demand, as we always have, no more than equality. No more than simple justice. No more than freedom. Nor do we – nor will we – accept less than full equality, justice, and freedom. No proud people would. 

. . . Celebrate!
The freedom we’ve always sought includes the freedom to celebrate – to celebrate ourselves, to mark each of our journeys from shame to pride, from isolation to community, from powerlessness to power. Freedom to celebrate what we’ve accomplished – together.

That immense rainbow flag that rippled down Market Street was held up by many, many hands. The flurries of coins tossed into it came from many pockets. The shouts arose from many voices. And whatever the Supreme Court says, it’s just that – all of us, acting and giving together – that will win us what we all have dreamed of for so long.

As every year, with gratitude and pride,

Roger Doughty
Executive Director

Where history is made

I hardly need tell you that this is a big week. Not one but two landmark LGBT rights cases being argued before the Supreme Court. Discussion of our rights on every news-related website, in every magazine, on every newscast. All eyes – across the country – on who we are and whether our birthright to the same freedoms granted unquestioningly to others will be recognized and protected by our government.