branches up, roots down

The arc of the moral universe is long, But it bends toward justice. -Abolitionist Theodore Parker, c. 1850's I slept away the holiday visit to my spouse's family in Philadelphia . I managed to stay awake for Thanksgiving and the day afterward, but then I surrendered to the fierce cold I'd been battling and took to my bed. My hotel room bed, that is. It would have been surreal in the best of health, this visit to new "in-laws" who clearly aren't anywhere close to accepting this as true. Homophobia is as potent in its silences as it in its taunts. Spending two of the four days sleeping tipped it over into pure dream time. There was genius in the timing of the cold, as it excused me from half of the family get-togethers. I arose from my fever dreams just in time to participate in packing up and going home. My dreams in Philadelphia were full of phantoms of two United States of America . One is a place of doublespeak and lies, a nightmare in a ho...

"When you choose to serve -- whether it's your nation, your community or simply your neighborhood -- you are connected to that fundamental American ideal that we want life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness not just for ourselves, but for all Americans. That's why it's called the American dream." These are Barack Obama's words. Look and feel what they spell out. What spell they cast. Check out the website for the transition - change.gov Patriotism was just reclaimed. My teenage son said last night how weird he feels, as it is the first time in his life he is feeling proud to be an American. It both feels like we are in a dream, and that we've waken up. The American Dream just expanded into something completely different than the selfishness of the past decades. It no longer is a nightmare. We, the People. All of Us. Obama, you can count on me to be serving. I am for this dream.

but, I'm not the only one. This morning I woke to my new spouse (we married on Sunday) crying beside me. She'd woken up, checked the news, and discovered that proposition 8 here in California had passed....which bans gay marriage. Last week, this city was full not only of the Samhain dead, but full of gay weddings. It has been legal here for the last couple of months. Today that has changed. Last night we cried in joy and intense gratitude. The streets of San Francisco were full of happy crying people. The election was not stolen, and America woke up. I am still exhilarated, still full of gratitude. And, full of resolve. I know that in my lifetime there will be full civil rights for gay and lesbians in this country. I can fully imagine it. I cried too, this morning. But in my tears there was joy. The tide has turned. Barack Obama included gays in his speech last night. Anything can happen if we imagine it. Today....I am thanking all the dreamers who have ever dared to imagine. ...