Living in History
Brandon Peter Melnyk
Political • Mar 11th, 13
The 113th Congress of the United States of America will go down as a historical one, especially for members of the LGBT community. On May 9, 2012, President Barack Obama spoke candidly about his stance on same-sex marriage, which brought a tear to my eye. I thought of his interview with ABC News as a wonderful gift because my birthday was the day before. There were four states which elected to support marriage equality on their respective ballots and there were an unprecedented number of LGBT members elected into office. These accomplishments are truly something to be very proud of!
Leading the way of elected office members was Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), who became the first openly gay person to be elected as a United States Senator. Mark Takano was another winner, in the 41st District of California. His win makes him the first openly gay person of color to be elected to Congress. Joining these two are incumbents David Cicilline (D-RI) and Jared Polis (D-CO), as well as newcomers Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY), Mark Pecan (D-WI), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ). Sinema will be the first openly bisexual Congress member. Congratulations to all of these elected officials and we wish you continued success! Not only is this the largest representation of the LGBT community in U.S. Congress history, the overall feeling towards marriage equality is gaining momentum across the country. There are various studies showing people are adapting to change and don’t have a big problem with marriage equality.
Two of them can be found here: Future Mariage Equality and Moderates Support Marriage Equalitypoll-independents-moderates-support-marriage-equality-in-washington-state/ . If you are looking for a particular state, region, age group, gender, or any other specifics, you can find them at your pleasure.
Not only are elected officials gaining support from fellow Congress members, multiple states took matters into their own hands by having marriage equality proposals on their ballots. Minnesota began election night turning down an amendment stating marriage is only between a man and a woman. Residents of Minnesota mad their state the first state to do so via a ballot. The previous 32 times marriage equality was voted on with a ballot, they all failed. Way to go Minnesota! Following the lead, Maine, Washington, and Maryland all voted to support marriage equality by passing amendments on their respective ballots. Leading up to election night, there had been a huge campaign in support of these four states voting for marriage equality, aptly titled The Four. Check out the hard work put in by everyday people and appreciate the victories these four states had: www.thefour.com. We need to appreciate our achievements in order to move forward in a progressive manner. Recognizing marriage equality in these four states now brings the total to 9, as well as Washington, D.C.
The 2012 Election made me go through a series of emotions, with most of them being of exhilaration and joy because I know my President isn’t going to treat me as a second class citizen. I know that marriage equality is gaining support everywhere. I know one day, my day will be here. What did election night 2012 mean to you?
May 9, 2012. Watch as Obama speaks openly about endorsing same-sex marriage.
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