…everything would be just fine by now.
It’s the one year anniversary of Del’s passing. She was one of the foremost activists in the lesbian feminist movement and she finally married (twice) her partner, Phyllis Lyon, after 52 years, before conservatives stole our rights back. Her book written with Phyllis, “Lesbian Woman” saved the lives and shaped the politics of an entire generation of activists and writers.
I grew up in Boston so the Kennedy boys, as my (and most people’s) grandmother called them were intrinsic to our landscape. The remnants of the virulent discrimination the Irish suffered in Boston was laced through their tenacity and determination; but most people didn’t think about that. Most only related to the affluence of the Kennedy family. Living well is the best revenge—that and giving back. They did that.
They were never anywhere near perfect…and I hope we aren’t so infantile we need perfect leaders. Just as Obama isn’t perfect. The perfection is in the learning how to make yourself and the world better. Ted said at the 1980 Democratic convention something like: “one generation’s answers become the questions of the next generation.”
Having those two as my teachers, my role models is a great gift. There’s a tumbling collection of truths spiralling out from Del and Ted and many others who’ve searched for answers to human rights issues.
May their answers turn into questions that each succeeding generation wants to step up and try to answer. It’s in the learning that life is lived.
