My wife Cindy and I launched RainbowWeddingNetwork.com back in the year 2000; at that time just one state in the USA had begun the enactment of civil unions. It would be four more years before the Goodridge decision in Massachusetts provided full marriage rights in that state; 11 more after that before the passage of Obergefell. The dynamics with regard to LGBTQ+ marriage recogntion would ping-pong back and forth for years -decades, really- and it felt like a roller coaster ride. Election cycles brought pushback at the ballot box regarding equality for our community, as well as surges of death threats to our office.

Cindy and I, and our team at RWN, have witnessed and been immersed in the drama surrounding LGBTQ+ marriage rights, and believe that in many ways we have taken active roles through our work and services at RainbowWeddingNetwork.com to forward the cause.

This election cycle is not different, in many ways. We get more death threats at our office. We note the spike in anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric, proposed legislative motions and campaign assertions regarding the stripping away of rights. As in past years, we are certainly aware that other minorities and groups are being scapegoated as well.

And yet this election cycle is different, and we must all not only pay attention, but take ongoing and fervent action. The foundational tenets of our nation are being threatened in a way that is more pointed, more specific, more hotly verbalized, and in a multitude of ways. The rights of the LGBTQ+ community are at risk, but the cause for concern is much broader than that: the rights of all Americans are at stake.

I cannot state it better than historian Ken Burns. I encourage you to take a few moments to listen to his recent comments during his commencement speech at Brandeis University... and pass on the link.

"We are at an existential crossroads: the choice could not be clearer..."
And quoting Singer: Reminders about "the kinship of the soul..."
And did you know that in its Greek roots, the word 'enthusiasm' means "God in us...?"
"Denounce oppression everywhere."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n1OqPzIKH4