I woke up on Friday to the news that SCOTUS spoke for the soul of our country this time. We can stop saying same-sex marriage, or gay marriage, and go back to saying just marriage and mean it; or maybe #JustMarriage as my fellow members of faith are beginning to say. Equality may be an abstract idea for some, or a political talking point for others, but for many of us it can mean life and death. This morning, I woke up learning a new truth. There's a stunning distance between the idea of equality and the realization that you're no longer a second class citizen.
Equality isn't a talking point. It's not a political chess piece moved along a board. It's a spiritual need. We as a people are less whole, whenever one amongst us is treated as less than fully human. For those of us who have spent a life-time as second class citizens, we're waking up to a new day, where our humanity is not limited by the will of another.
And now that the curtain has been pushed to the side for me, I want even more for all the rest of us to get the same treatment - fully human, fully dignified. To my Queer siblings, let us enjoy Pride this weekend; we have earned it. But when we put away the glitter, and the floats and the balloons, let's get back to the streets and the courthouses and City Hall. The Stonewall Riots began with the work of our Trans and Drag siblings, and Stonewall will not be quieted until the folk who started us along this path catch up with the rest of us. Stonewall must still rage, until all Americans are protected against discrimination based on gender expression or identity. Stonewall must still rage until all our siblings have a safe roof over their head and security in the work force. Stonewall must still rage till our nation lives the truth that Black lives matter, and Brown lives matter and Trans lives matter. We are all connected in the struggle and in our humanity; and we did not get to this place of victory alone.