Faith

Tri Vo

I know you’re stressed. I know you are. I’m sorry. I’m stressed too. We’re stressed.

It’s okay. We can talk about it. Big things are happening. It’s stressful.

They’re talking about us being maybe equal. That’s stressful. That’s confusing. Do we have the right to take that privilege? Are they just playing? Is it lip service? What does ‘gay’ mean? ‘Bi?’ ‘Lesbian?’ ‘Queer?’ ‘Trans?’ Are we ready for this?

I can’t say for sure. I’m stressed.

But I will not huddle in fear, waiting for the wind to blow. No, family. No. We deserve better.

You are my sisters. My brothers. My Others.

Maybe you were born with a penis, but you feel like a girl? Maybe you have a vagina, and you’re a boy? Fine with me. We’re family.

Here’s what I know:

Barack said, “Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law. For if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well”

An American President, has never, ever, said that before. Never. Bill Clinton was a great man, but he wasn’t living in a time where he could say that. President Obama doesn’t have the same restrictions. He’s not the same man. Barack can say this is not right. He can say, you deserve better. Mister Obama is the right man for this job. He sees you.

Yes, Supreme Court. We already have our dignity. We already have our resolve. We need you to get on board. We hope you’re ready, liberals. We hope you’re ready conservatives. We hope you’re ready old fashioned bigots.

That’s what = means.

You are beautiful. They lied when they said you were a freak. They are the freaks. You are perfect. They are the sinners. They are saving face, at this point. This is a stressful time.

I hear you. I see you, siblings. But what can we do? We can have what religious people have always had. Faith.

But we are tender. We are sad. We are joyful, and oppressed, and kind. We are angry, and silly. We are growing ranks. We are siblings. We are legion.

We are side by side, siblings. We are strong.

They are afraid of us. We are all together singing in harmony and we will be heard. They will hear us because there are now too many brave men and women and transfolk to ignore.

They were unkind, for thousands of years. They will try to act like it was a small clerical error. Yes. They will.

We must allow this. It is hard to swallow, but we must let them save face.

Seems counterintuitive, doesn’t it? Why do we have to?  Why do we have to show them love? Because.

If we want equality, we have to show them love. That isn’t the hardest thing. It’s so human.

We must have faith. We must conduct ourselves with decorum. There will be times when you don’t have faith. There will be times when it seems like the bigots always win. Those are the times when you turn to your brothers and sisters and ask to borrow some faith. If they don’t have any, you can borrow some of mine.

I see you. They see you. We all see you there, suffering and inequal. And we won’t tolerate it much longer.

Things are going to change. Things have already changed. We see each other now. They see us.

We have arrived.