How fitting to find a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of one of our greatest (and my favorite) president, Franklin D. Roosevelt. A man who came into a hard situation and turned this country around in a way no one thought possible. Times were hard, and they got even harder while he was in the office. But I believe that we would not be where we are today at a nation without the influence of this man.

I also believe that with our new president-elect, Barack Hussein Obama, our country will face the challenges that lie ahead and once more become the most admired and respected powerful country in the world. I am not here to brag about Obama’s win, or put down John McCain. Like Obama, I want to talk about hope. Before this election season, I have never been able to utter the words, “I am proud to be an American.� I didn’t understand hanging flags in my yard or on my car. I sang our national anthem at every single high school football game, but never got the meaning behind it. In London, people would find out I’m from Texas and give me judgmental looks. I was always quick to distance myself from that ideology.

But on November 4th, 2008, my life changed profoundly. A week earlier, I voted for the first time ever, right here in here in Bexar county. I felt my vote would count more and I wanted the experience of voting with a machine, really getting in there. It was wonderful; the line was worth it. The night of the election my friends and I gathered in my apartment with a bottle of champagne chilling in the fridge. We tried not to think about a victory toast too soon- you never know. The first time I cried that night was when it became clear the balance in Texas may very well shift- could Texas turn blue? It did not, but the fact that it was so very close overwhelmed me. Bexar county was blue. My vote counted! I mean something! All of the times I told people to go out and vote- vote for whoever, just VOTE- it actually means something! I looked at my friends and told them, “I never thought I would say this, but I am proud to be a Texan. I am proud of this state.� And then, at 10:01, the screens in the abc newsroom changed, flashing “OBAMA WINS!!!� We were in shock. It all happened so quickly, and there it was. A win for democracy, a win for the people of the United States. Your voice and your vote was heard. You can make a difference if you believe in something. The people of the United States of American believed in the hope that Obama provided, and we elected him. It is a beautiful, beautiful thing for democracy. I am proud, for the first time in my life, and hopefully for the rest of my life, to be an American citizen.

However, despite all of the joy that came with that day, there were several crushing blows for equality for minority groups. How can it be that on the day an African American president, who has faced all he has, became the President, that another minority group was stripped of their rights as Human Beings? Only several months after gay marriage was allowed in California, it was taken away. Gay men and women are exactly that- Men and Women. Human Beings. To take away the right to commit oneself to another is abhorrent. Every man and woman has the right to love, has the right to publically declare their life-long commitment to their partner. Love is for everyone, and quite honestly, the world needs more love, not repression. Marriage is hard. Today’s statistics state that only 50% of marriages will survive. Doesn’t everyone deserve that chance of happiness or unhappiness? If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t. But don’t tell all of the men and men and women and women who have been together for twenty years, forty years, as lovers and partners, that they do not deserve every right that that male-female marriages get. With one huge step for civil liberties, comes another huge step back. This is not progress, this is repression. American will continue to fight for love and hope.

I know some of you may disagree with me, and that’s fine. But this is a blog about a college student, and there is nothing that a college student loves more than to talk about the issues. And this is an issue that affects everyone. If you consider yourself a human being, it affects you.

“Our stories are singular but our destiny is shared.�

Peace and love,
Mandy