As I type this, I cannot create a vivid picture of how much devastation, how much anger, how much sadness that I currently feel.
A few moments ago, the Illinois House which was expected to vote on same-sex marriage did not vote on the bill that would have granted equality to all of Illinois’s loving couples.
As hopeful as we were that the legislature was going to do the right thing, they simply did not. They simply once again pushed the issue aside; an issue so important to so many people, an issue that we are tired of waiting for to be solved, an issue that has been fought for for too long.
To my fellow citizens, I understand that we are angry, we are upset, we are disappointed, and we are still considered “second-class” citizens. But, we must remain hopeful, we must remain passionate, we must not relent, we must turn our anger and our sorrow into productive action.
I know this isn’t easy, it isn’t fair, it isn’t right because I too am tired of patience, I too am tired of being pushed aside because we’re not an issue yet to be discussed because society isn’t ready for us to be equal. We will be equal, we will one day be free no matter if society is ready for us to be or not, we had made ourselves clear of that, we have made ourselves clear that we are not going away, and that our movement, our message, our strength, and our passion are growing.
The Illinois House had a chance today to emancipate a vast number of its citizens from the injustice of second-class citizenship, but today had failed to make that history.
As we press on, we will grow, we will continue to fight and fight stronger. Our efforts then, now, and in the future will only make such change happen.
We are devastated, we are disappointed, we are denied, but we are not defeated.