Gratitude for activists of change

It’s hard to believe it, but there was a time when I was knee high to a grasshopper – a little miniature of a man, running around carefree, often buck naked. Some memories from those days are still clear in my mind, while others have faded with time. But I remember without fail the moments when Mom or Dad reminded me of the importance of gratitude. Whether it was a Tonka truck shared in the sandbox or a visit to my first boyfriend’s family, the admonition still rings loud and clear: “Say please and thank you.”

I’ve grown up since those early days – in some ways, at least; the world of grown-ups that I now inhabit is much more complicated than the whimsical one of my childhood. That’s nothing foreign to any of us, and yet, there are some basics learned from the first steps of childhood we all too often push aside, dismiss, or forget in adulthood. Sometimes, we forget the importance of saying “thank you.”

If you’re reading this issue – and the ones that came before it – you know what a tense political world we live in. LGBT issues are at the forefront of local and national legislatures while government is slowly, painfully making way for our equality. For most of us, these are issues that should have been resolved yesterday. We should be moving on. We should be thinking about what everyone else has the freedom to think about: family, friends, career, living life.

But we’re not. Not yet.

Though we would be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge how far we’ve come. How much more aware is society now of the issues we face as a community than it was 15, 10, even five years ago? How much more empowered are we to confront our leaders and push them to make the right decisions? How many more places have legally, wholly embraced us?

Part of that recognition is calling to mind a simple lesson of days past: The importance of gratitude. We must remember the constant, self-sacrificial efforts made by all those on our behalf. And so, I think, we have some thanking to do.

Thank you: to those among us who work tirelessly for the equality we crave, we need, we deserve. You are friends, lovers, politicians, teachers, preachers, pastors, business owners, allies. You are many, and you know who you are. I only hope you know how grateful we are for the inspiration, the leadership, and the guidance you offer. May we never take you, or the progress you have made possible, for granted.

Among the pearls of wisdom handed down from my parents, there were two that had the most lasting impact. The first was
gratitude. The second was an understanding my own potential for affecting change. Every morning as I walked out the door to go to school, my dad would hug me and say: “Do good by doing well.”

Isn’t that our call in all the battles we face as a community? It starts and ends with believing we can make change, being the change we want to see, and embracing those whose dedication secures its success. What a beautiful legacy that is!  And I wouldn’t give it up for all the Tonka trunks in all the sandboxes in the world.