The Harry Potter Alliance

Come on Colorado!

So remember when I said that I wasn’t getting near politics, cause I’d start throwing things? Well, it’s been an interesting week. This is the third politically oriented blog I’ve written in a row, and I have yet to throw anything (despite being sorely tempted to do so after North Carolina’s ruling).

But today’s blog is much closer to home: Colorado legislators are meeting today in a special session to discuss a bill allowing civil-unions. As a life-long resident of Colorado, that makes me pretty excited. I would be a lot more excited if the committee assigned the bill wasn’t known to be against equal rights right from the start, and is currently being termed the ‘kill committee;’ but it’s still a good sign that they went to the trouble of calling a special session to begin with.

Perhaps, however, we can take heart in the mere fact that such things are being taken so much more seriously than before. Even if this bill doesn’t pass now, other bills will pass later, and the issue is becoming more and more pressing. At this point, people all over the country are beginning to realize a few things about the fight for equality:

• Yes, this really is a serious human rights issue that isn’t just going to go away if you ignore it.
• This issue isn’t only of concern to the LGBTQ community; people of all religions, creeds, sexual preferences and races are standing up and demanding that same-sex couples have the same rights as everybody else.
• States that have passed civil-union laws–yea verily, and even same-sex marriage laws(!)–have not turned into dens of iniquity. In fact, they’ve carried on just like all the other states, only with more happy couples.
• Finally, progress is inevitable, eventually. You can’t stop it, but you have a choice when it comes to facing it. You can fight against the inevitable, or you can embrace it–and maybe even help it to occur.

Maybe, just maybe, today will be the day. Maybe my state won’t make the same mistake as NC (though, obviously, this is a different type of bill we’re talking about). Maybe, I can wake up tomorrow feeling proud of my state and my country, and certain in the knowledge that change is happening for the better.

And then again, maybe I’ll be throwing things at the wall and hoping for next time.