The Ryan Thomas Collection

In October 2009, I had the great opportunity to embark upon a trip to Washington, DC to march in a civil rights rally on the nation’s capitol with some close friends of mine. We have marched together on the streets of San Francisco. We have marched together on California’s state capitol building in Sacramento. We have been marching for our voices to be heard in an American struggle for equal civil rights for the gay and lesbian community in this country.

As we explored Washington, DC, we were able to stand on the very stone that Martin Luther King, Jr. stood upon as he gave his infamous “I have a dream speech” at the Lincoln Memorial. His struggle and his fight is the same battle me, my friends, my coworkers and my family are participating in today; civil rights and protections for all Americans, gay or straight. 

I stood on that stone and I thought about MLK, Jr.’s Civil Rights Movement for equality based on race. I thought about how he told America, “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up… live out the true meaning of its creed. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.” I have this dream too. I have this dream for me and my gay and lesbian community. MLK, Jr. may have been marching for racial equality, but his movement is similar to the movement I am participating in today. I look to his lessons, his words and his history to teach me how to work towards building an America where I am “judged on the content of my character,” not by the gender of the person I love.

I have been embarking on this journey for gay and lesbian equality for more than a decade. It is a journey that I am a part of every day. As a young child, I remember every January learning about MLK Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement he led. As a nation, we celebrate this great leader on his birthday — a nationally recognized holiday. I remember as a young child not understanding why people of different races would ever be treated differently, but this holiday helped teach me the necessary lessons of racial injustice in America’s history and about the man that fought to change it. It is a lesson I carried with me into adulthood and have re-crafted into my own fight for civil rights for gays and lesbians today.

MLK Jr. Day is a holiday that allows us to reflect on the dreams of one American man, which are the dreams many of us still have and are still working for today. Let us not forget this dream of equality.

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