Time for protest

After my first year of college, my rebellious stage started. There were plenty of opportunities to express it. I joined Campus Coalition for Human Rights, Women Working for Change and the Gay and Lesbian Student Union. Through these different groups I protested locally in support of a woman's right to choose, against the University of Delaware's investments in South Africa many times, for gay and lesbian rights and in Philadelphia, New York City and Washington DC for similar classes.

 Once Janet and I got together, we continued this trend, primarily protesting in support of women's rights and gay and lesbian rights. As a matter of fact, one of our first  " dates" was to a protest in DC. We have a wonderful picture of us looking lovingly into each other's eyes, while wearing matching Gay Pride shirts with DC as a backdrop.

But people get older, they may get sick, they may not be able to do what they used to do. I naïvely thought that when this happened to us, we'd be able to hang up our protest signs and our armbands and have the next generation pick them up and carry on the fight. It seemed to work for a while, we've been out of the protest scene since I had difficulty walking about 10 years ago and the world seemed to continue without our voices. I was hoping my writing would be a big enough contribution.

Things have been going on politically that have pushed more buttons than Ronald Reagan did when I was in college. It's these Damn Tea Party People that have managed to reverse women's contraceptive rights to wire coat hanger levels and I worry about all the other rights that we finally have achieved. Janet and I finally were civilly unionized and if Santorum won the presidency, he had vowed to dissolve it. I no longer feel secure as a woman and as a lesbian.

 Janet and I have been talking… I'm in a power chair and she has arthritis in her feet and in spite of that we are starting to feel the need to do something about this. I'm not saying that the next generation didn't pick up where we left off, it just seems as if everyone needs to get active. We are threatened! There is supposed to be a big march in Washington DC in September. I plan to be there… How about you?