I keep a personal memento of hope. In November of 2008 I went to the polls, and voted. On the ballot was the now infamous California Proposition Number 8. The language of the proposed amendment to the constitution – the founding and chief legal statement of how we the people of the state must function – said that my marriage was shit. And, that – the quality of my union – was put to a popular vote; made subject to public 'debate,' although the 'arguments' for the haters were privately-funded from out-of-state interest groups, like the Mormons, who dumped millions into TV ads in conservative-leaning counties.

I came home that day with my voting stubs; the torn-off bottoms of the ballots that I had used. These are a sort of receipt. The proof that I had cast my will in the election. That evening, before results even began to roll in, I stuck those stubs upright into my pencil holder – an alabaster urn a friend had given me a while back. But why would I do that? Because, that vessel holds my letter opener. I know, another strange non-answer…but, my letter opener is a 1920's Italian piece. It is a fairly detailed cast brass figure, riding the globe at her feet, her right arm outstretched with a victory wreath, and her wings fully spread in triumph. Yes, she is a Winged Victor, or a figure of the Greek goddess, Nike.

I placed her before my ballot stubs to look at, and fearing the worst, but holding onto hope that that early November night of 2008 would end in affirmation, not discrimination, I placed her in front, to march along and say that the right thing to do for others will eventually win over all hearts.

We lost. My husband and I were in enshrined in the California State Constitution as second-class citizens; as separate and unequal, and as worthy of public ridicule and contempt. We were not alone, ten of thousands were used as the ink to write and print this inequity, and so it stands to this day.

Times change. That same election brought us a new president and an empowered Congress. In 2010 they were brave enough to debate the supposed merits of 'Don't Ask, Don’t Tell,' and no one truly believed that it served any function other than to bolster a lingering homophobia among The Pentagon elite desk-jobbers. Certainly no comrades in arms in the fields of Iraq or Afghanistan cared if their buddies were fighting for love of home and family, and that that family might include a husband or boyfriend. What mattered to them, was that they had each others backs.

Before the Act fell, I was inspired to try and capture a skewed look at the times. I wrote a libretto for a Gilbert and Sullivan style operetta. The inspiration was a series of funny happenings in Washington. One, Stephen Colbert was asked to testify before Congress, and two Lady Gaga said she would testify before congress on marriage equality.

My piece, which I titled "Do Ask, Do Tell!" further involved such 'funny' elements as the apologist antics of Fox 'News,' and Senator Craig's toe-tapping outing in an airport restroom. It is truly an ingesting piece, and the wit and ballsy satire of Gilbert was my guide to creating this alternate world.

As I wrote it, I knew I'd have to follow it up with a second part; a satire on the hoped-for end of the Federal discrimination against same-sex couples. But it took a while to write it. In fact, I just finished it. This one is called: "To Defend Marriage, Act!"

Wait until you see the subtitles....

Soon, the Supreme Court's rulings on Prop. 8 will be released. And yet, Victory still stands as she did. She marches along, without taking a step forward, to remind me that it is hope that matters.

Only weeks away now, perhaps, only days, and we will know if Prop. 8 and so-called 'Defense of Marriage Act' will fall to the march of time as relics of a hate-filled past, a past wherein a sect can buy its will when it comes to prejudice on a minority they tell themselves they do not like.

I will be uploading both. And although the Supreme Court's rulings are unknown at this time, there is every reason to hope that Victory will lead the way, and finally, I will be able to toss those voting stubs away, as the worthless mementos of the dead past that they are.

Here's "Do Ask, Do Tell!, or Pansies in Arms" a Gilbertonian Operetta in Two Acts

https://www.gayauthors.org/story/ac-benus/doaskdotell-anoprettalibretto