On Sunday, October 11, I plan to March for Equality.
It will be an historic day -- the day that divides the past from the future. Going forward there will be, "Before the March" and "After the March."
Before the March, nobody thought that tens of thousands of people would march for marriage equality. But it is happening. Thousands of people, lesbian, gay, straight, transgender, and bisexual; red, yellow, black, white and brown; old and young, male and female; Democratic, Republican, and Independent; union and management; and from the North, the South, the East and the West, will be there. After the March, no one will think that ever again.
Before the March, we never won a statewide referendum on marriage equality. Not because we didn't try, and not because we didn't work hard enough. From the loss in California to the Karl Rove strategy in 2004 to put people's rights on the ballot in order to drive up the evangelical vote, we have endured more than our share of losses. But that was before the March. After the March, we know we are going to win. We're going to win in Maine this November, and that's going to mark the beginning of the change. The change that started After the March.
Before the March, there were efforts to enact civil unions. Civil unions are second class citizenship, a pale imitation of marriage. Civil unions are to marriage equality what the Monkees are to the Beatles. It's like comparing Clarence Thomas to Thurgood Marshall. It's like comparing Jon and Kate Plus Eight to ... anybody. That's a marriage? We know what's real and we know what's not. Marriage is real, and marriage equality is the goal.
Before the March it seemed like the only ones who worried about whether or not LGBT people could get married were, well, people who were LGBT. Well, that's over, too. You have allies who believe that marriage equality should be the law, that state sanctioned discrimination is wrong, and that the LGBT community should not have to win this fight alone. There are many of us -- some who will be right there at the March, but many millions more around the country -- who support the fight for marriage equality for our friends, for our families, and for our country.
After Sunday, October 11, things will be different. After Sunday, it will be after the March. After Sunday, we will live in the future where all things are possible. After this day, we will be One Nation, Under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice -- FOR ALL.