Today is Bill of Rights Day, commemorating the day the first ten amendments to the Constitution came into effect. President Obama, in his proclamation of the event, spoke obliquely but to my mind undoubtedly about equality for LGB people. This, on a day to honor what he called “the foundation of American liberty, securing our most fundamental rights” is a significant statement.
The president said that over the course of our country’s history (my emphasis):
We learned that our Nation, built on the principles of freedom and equality, could not survive half-slave and half-free. We resolved that our daughters must have the same rights, the same chances, and the same freedom to pursue their dreams as our sons, and that if we are truly created equal, then the love we commit to one another must be equal as well. Americans with disabilities tore down legal and social barriers; disenfranchised farmworkers united to claim their rights to dignity, fairness, and a living wage; civil rights activists marched, bled, and gave their lives to bring the era of segregation to an end. As we celebrate the anniversary of the Bill of Rights, let us reach for a day when we all may enjoy the basic truths of liberty and equality.
Hear, hear.
