Friday, January 06, 2006

We've come so far

Brokeback Mountain opened in Laramie today. The Rainbow Resource Center has a new, larger, and more visible home in the Union. There are 121 people subscribed to the Spectrum email list. Spectrum was named Outstanding Student Organization last year. Wyoming AIDS Walk is celebrating its 5th year. There is gay TV all over the place. I'm starting the beginnings of a career as a professional homo.

It's 2006 now. As I reflect on the past year, I am amazed at where we are today. I came out 10 years ago, and it was a much different world. I remember exactly where I was and who I was with the night Ellen came out on her television show. I remember Tammy Baldwin being elected the first openly lesbian congresswoman. I remember when only 8 states offered employment protection based on sexual orientation...not 17. I remember when no states protected employment based on gender identity...not 7. And I still remember being terrified of people learning I was gay. Today, most of these things are remembered as history...ancient history by some. *grin*

I am simply overwhelmed by how much things have changed in the decade since I first told someone I wasn't straight. Things have changed a great deal, and not just for the country as a whole! I'm speaking nationally and writing textbook chapters, for fuck's sake! But this isn't about me. It's about change. Determination. Struggle. SUCCESS! We all have a part in this, gay or straight. The readers of my blog are all a part of "the movement." Or you wouldn't be my friends...or phantom cyber stalkers. ;) Thank you for that. And now...onward and upward!

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