Two Steps Forward...

... but one step back.

Mixed emotions about the election results from last night. On the one hand, I’m elated that Barack Obama is President-elect, and feel a renewed sense of hope about the future of our nation. When I first decided to support Obama back in the primaries, it seemed like a long-shot, and he has run a great campaign against difficult odds. For the first time in a long time, I’m proud of our political leadership.

On the other hand, my jubliation and relief are tempered by the fact that various anti-gay initiatives passed last night: bans on same-sex marriage in California, Florida, and Arizona, and a ban on same-sex adoption in Arkansas. The very idea of writing discrimination into a document meant to define and protect liberty chills me to the bone, and I’m really at a loss for how to respond to such hatred, for hatred it is to deny people their rights for no other reason than discomfort with the idea of treating them as full human beings.

We’ve come a long way over the course of this political campaign, America, but we’ve got a long way yet to go.