June 19, 2012
I Dreamed A Dream in Times Gone By
When I was little, when people asked what I wanted to be, I always said, perhaps a bit over-cheerfully: “The first female president of the US!” Well, that was before I wised up (at 8, I was a precocious little thing) and decided I wanted to be a political aide instead. All of the power, none of the intrusion on my life! I kept my passion for politics, but as I became more aware of myself, and the direction my life was taking, that dream of being president slipped even further out of my fingers.
From whitehouse.gov
As this writer points out, it’s a jungle out there for LBGT people who want to go into politics, especially national politics. I’ve seen first-hand how people can take something that is so irrelevant and make it into such a huge issue. “Do you want this person as a leader” a political ad might say. Disgusting, if you ask me.
However, there are some lights at the end of this tunnel. I know, you’re probably tired of me talking about Connecticut state politics, aren’t you? Well, I can’t help it. We’re actually getting it almost right. I just want to point out that in the CT legislature we have six sitting LBGT politicians, two in the Senate, three in the House, and one state-wide official.
The campaigns of both of the Senators were in no way connected to their partners. Senator Bye is more well known in the state for skiing to work than for the fact that she is the first person to get a same-sex marriage in CT. Senator Maynard… well, I think I’ll let the Daily Show tell you better than me. Watch this!
Things are getting better. Campaigns like these, and politicians like these would have been impossible a few short years ago. No, it’s not everywhere, but things are changing. And, well, the little hopeful girl inside of me is still wondering if one day she’ll get to sit in the Oval Office. Everyone’s got a dream, right?
