My Stake in the Fight, by Tracy

When I mentioned at work that I was excited to have had this photo taken, a young man that I worked with asked me what my stake in the fight was, and why I cared. He said he knew that I was "straight, but not narrow," but still- why make a statement that didn't apply to me?

I was glad that he'd had the courage to ask such a direct question. My response was that it's important to stand up for what we believe in, and if I truly believe that all people should be equal and all citizens should have equal rights under our laws, then this is my fight, too.

I hate the phrase "straight, but not narrow." If I really believe that someone's sexual or gender identity is no big deal, than why should I be concerned that people know that I'm straight? We live in a society that heralds our great freedoms, in which members of my own family have risked their lives to defend those freedoms, and I struggle every day to make the world a better place for having been here; if we pick and choose who should be worthy of those freedoms, then we are not living up to the ideals that we profess, and not worthy of the great legacy that has been left to us by those who have gone before.

-Tracy