It's only been 3 years since the landmark the Obergefell v. Hodges decision. The year SCOTUS shocked everyone by being on the right side of history (even with a bunch of jags on the bench - soon to be more).
This wasn't the first fight for Jim Obergefell. He fought in Ohio. Can
you imagine being in a courtroom and listening to people talk about how
marriages between cousins or minors that would be illegal in Ohio are
recognized if they were legal in the place they were conducted and
someone telling you that yours isn't?
Other decisions led up to this. United States v Windsor for example. Edie Windsor was a boss bitch. She was everything the Right hates. A Jewish lesbian in the tech industry. I would love it if I could a tenth as badass as she was. (Side note: it's kind of funny in an awful way that they are referred to as "the Right" when they are very in the wrong about a lot of things, and I am "the Left" which has traditionally been used to talk about things that are wrong.)
I remember being home sick from work that day. I was lying in bed waiting for the decision to happen. I was ready for it either go back to the lower courts or for a ruling against it. When you are on the right side of history, you have to be ready for some defeats. You always prepare a gracious way to lose and a plan on how to win the next one.
Then we didn't lose.
I cried. A lot. America was finally on the right side of history.
In an sort of poetic way there was the anniversary of another landmark decision that changed the nation.
The Obergefell v. Hodges case came almost 48 years to the day after Loving v. Virginia.
There are people alive today who grew up with interracial marriage and
gay marriage as illegal. There are people who still believe they should
be. We are on a dangerous and terrifying backslide right now. America is moving towards the wrong side of history. Again.
No matter how defeated or powerless we feel, we can't let hate win. We can't stand by while a loud minority of hateful people try to turn back the tide of progress.
History has its eyes on us. Let's try not to disappoint the future. Or the past.
