I'm putting my lips to my first sip of early morning coffee when a text comes through... "Gay marriage legal in all 50 states!" I almost dropped the cup. And the phone.

I'm so happy. I'm so excited. I'm so thrilled. But I've been keeping those feelings to myself. Perhaps it's my prayerful upbringing that has me turn inward when things mean a lot to me. Every time I see another flash of celebrating folks in online images, flashes of other images interject from the back of my mind. Black and white images. Images of the Stonewall riots, Marsha P. Johnson, Harvey Milk (ok, now the images are in color). Conversations I've had with good friends who were pioneering right alongside the men and women who have made this real keep coming to mind too. And I'm afraid. I'm afraid that if I run out and party I'll get distracted by the cute boys and forget the depth of this event. It's part of a bigger fear that our youth-obsessed culture will lose interest in the voices, stories, and lives of gay pioneers. Their stories to become trapped in books and stacks of vhs tapes that never got digitized. We are stepping into a new era this weekend. Things won't ever be quite the same around here. Incredible that we are primed to party, being smack in the middle of Pride Season. But those celebrations will be different now.

I hope this country blooms into a rainbow world where inequality is as antiquated as Dorothy's sepia toned farm at the beginning of the Wizard of Oz. (I do feel we owe this whole thing to Judy somehow). I hope our rights remind us that we are, in fact, equal, and continue demanding fair treatment and a safe place to live and be free. I hope that as we take our freedom for granted we don't lose our courage. That is what it took to get here. That is what it will take to keep these colors bright and cover the world in this rainbow.

Now I've got to go polish my horn and put on my make up. The Rainbow Unicorn rides TONIGHT!