{& then} I'm proud to be an American

"...where at least I know I'm freeeeeee..."

Okay sorry I'll stop. 

But I won't stop smiling/tearing up/giggling. I just won't. Because so much history has been made this week!

SO. MUCH.

(And coming from a girl who dates literally everything she writes on in the hopes that someday historians will find her writing and be grateful that she was so thoughtful in helping them piece together an accurate timeline, um YEA, I'm super pumped.)

First, Wendy Davis filibustered for 13 HOURS last night (almost all for naught thanks to opposing senate members whose biggest weapon was to call her out on tiny technicalities but we won't go into that because UGH). Except for when all hope seemed to be lost, Texas rallied. And ultimately SB5 was killed - a victory not only for reproductive rights, but also for the provision of health care to women all over this great state.

Check out all the love:

#standwithwendy

AND THEN (!):

This morning my sweet friend/coworker and I sat with our eyes glued to to SCOTUS blog. We watched as the Supreme Court ruled DOMA unconstitutional and dismissed Prop 8. Once we were sure we read the findings right (because I went to college not law school, folks), we hugged and laughed and cried a little knowing that we are now BOTH seen as equal under the law.  <3

No matter your stance, the role of our government is to defend the Constitution and not personal beliefs, and certainly not to discriminate against a minority. 

Justice Scalia put it best I think:

"It is enough to say that the Constitution neither requires nor forbids our society to approve of same-sex marriage, much as it  neither requires nor forbids us to approve of no-fault divorce, polygamy, or the consumption of alcohol."

In the past two days, law and order have succeeded in their intended purpose. Maybe not in every way that people had hoped (e.g. the voting rights act and now the NSA knows what you just Googled) but we have witnessed at least a few victories that area a part of larger struggles, and that is reason to celebrate.

"Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable...Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals."

- Martin Luther King, Jr.