It’s a happy, hopeful day in America for all those people whose parents told them that in America, it’s possible for any citizen to become the President… For those…

…People of color, children of immigrants, members of nontraditional families.

…Those 125,000 black, brown, white, yellow, old and young faces in Chicago last night watching President Elect Obama’s victory speech, and for the rest of the country that looks like that, who feel in our hearts, too, that we are REAL Americans just as much as anybody else!

…Who are proud of America for doing the right thing in a time of crisis; that our fellow citizens are not apathetic, and do make up their own minds, and can change for the better!

…Whose cynicism is cracking like a frozen lake in springtime; that for all the corruption and unethical tactics we’ve witnessed in the past eight years, they can’t take this win away! And in the next four years, we will start undoing the damage and disenchantment of the last eight.

…Who are proud of our President Elect: a self-made man, a community organizer, an intellectual, and even after a long, hard-fought campaign, a person big enough to still reach out to all Americans, especially those who didn’t vote for him.

…Who are just as thrilled by First Lady Michelle Obama.

…Americans whose hopes are further buoyed by the news that the world celebrates with us today (see “For Many Abroad, an Ideal Renewed” on NYTimes for relief and enthusiasm from around the globe)…

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However, in California, a majority of voters have voted Yes on Prop. 8, and it’s a sad day for people who want to end discrimination, for all our friends whose marriages have been banned by vote of the People. Why anyone would go out of their way to stop others from enjoying a right that they already have? It’s contrary to the core American value: equality under the law.

(BTW, has anyone wondered why the Church of Latter Day Saints — a huge pro-8 donor — should be telling Californians what a “normal” marriage is, when there’s 60,000 polygamists in their own state? Come on! I’m all for religious freedom, but it doesn’t give some the moral imperative to dictate to others who can marry whom in the eyes of the law. Some straights really honor marriages, some don’t: some cheat, serial marry, drunk marry, joke marry. Straights aren’t inherently better at marriage. Get over it!)

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We have come so far, and still have so far to go…