Election Night Jitters

So, as I sit staring at the real-time map and urging the states to turn blue I'm trying to focus on Sons of Anarchy instead of how worried I am about Romney's numbers climbing. Still, if we vote out a good president because the country is dumb enough to believe the sort of mess he inherited could be fixed in four years then I'll be seriously considering Canada. I've become less vocal about my politics in the last few years, but that doesn't change my being passionate about it. That's my soap-box. No more preaching. Except for the rest of this.

The thing is, I'm a big fan of equal rights. That's always been my thing. Some people get really passionate about the economy, some people go nuts about healthcare, and I care about that, but equal rights is where I get curse word prone. Not that it takes much to pry an expletive from my mouth, but I'll lose my control in a room full of old ladies if equal rights come up. I grew up in the South. Racism is a strange thing there. It's not like the movies, because that wouldn't fly for long, but it's institutional. It's understood. You know, for example, that in my hometown there are two establishments that are "Members Only", and that their membership is uniformly pale. You know a lot of little things like that, and they're understood in the background even if they're never spoken. Thing is, with every new generation piling in that kind of thing gets harder to support. Those "Members Only" establishments? Nobody my age ever went into them. So when people walk around with shirts that say "It's called the White House for a reason" you can't tell me that's not personal. That it isn't racism. Politics is dirty, I get that, it's not supposed to be but anything run by people is going to get that way. But don't tell me it's all part of politics as usual when really it's just small-minded hatred. 

Which leads me to the thing that has me writing this tonight. I have a favorite cousin. I love him. He's the age of my youngest uncle, and he's always been just an incredible human being. I've always looked up to him. He served in the military for many years, and then when he got out he moved overseas and stayed there. I see him very infrequently, and whenever I do it's very special. I dragged my exhausted butt out to see him after my night class tonight, and every moment was precious. The last few even more so, because my cousin got married. I'm betting you can see where this is going. My cousin has been with his new husband for a long time, and I couldn't be happier for them. Not everyone in my family knows because not everyone in my family understands the basic principle that all human beings are human beings, and should be treated accordingly. Sexual preference does not make someone less of a person, and I always wonder if my cousin had been allowed to marry who he wanted would he have come back to the States? If we didn't treat people in same-sex relationships like second-class citizens? Seeing his wedding photos tonight reminds me of what's at stake in this election. What's at stake in all elections really, because this one is important but it's neither the beginning nor the end. 

So listen, no matter who wins tonight I'm not going to Canada. I'm sticking around, because there's more fighting to do. We have to keep going until my cousin and his husband can come here and be recognized as a married couple in every state. Until there's no one with the audacity to joke about our President's skin color. Until we're a nation founded on equal rights that actually practices what it preaches. 

And that is my soapbox. Don't let me down Nation.