By Brandy Black | The Next Family
We WON!
Words alone cannot depict the significance this day holds. I - mother of three, married to the woman of my dreams - am living the life I always wanted, and yet not until now have I experienced true validation and… it’s everything. This is no mere vote; it’s not just a piece of paper. This is my country and its people assuring me and my family that we are no longer excluded.
I didn’t have this assurance fourteen years ago when my wife and I stood before friends and family and pledged our forever union. Even the word “wife” was not mine to use, as a colleague so emphatically informed me. Well, it’s mine now, and I feel such gratitude. Thank you to those who fought so hard for equality. Thank you to those not strong enough to keep it from me.
Leading up to this historical moment, I realize that there will come a day, maybe sooner than I think, when our kids’ kids will not even appreciate this fight. Marriage as equal opportunity for all will simply be a fact in their lives; they will not even have to consider the alternative. They may turn to this history as a template for ridding their world of whatever injustices plague it, but they won’t fully understand those who stood for a minority group simply because it was the right thing to do. They won’t know or even need to know, and I guess that’s a good thing. Homophobia and bigotry will have subsided in comparison. To forget is to be permitted to.
My daughter, with tears in her eyes, asked if there was a chance that the Supreme Court would make the wrong decision. I was proud to be able to tell her, “No, this is what our country does; we eventually get it right; history proves it.”
And so it has.
In celebration of the struggle and the victory, we offer a lighthearted look at the future Sallys and Harrys of the world. May the protection afforded them by the Supreme Court, and the millions of voices behind it, stand forever.
Brandy Black is the Founder of The Next Family and lives in Los Angeles with her wife and three kids.
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