TNG Associate Contributor Corey submitted this piece as part of an ongoing conversation about Proposition 8 in California. Please consider adding your voice to our discussion.

I was surprised yesterday to read a submission sent in by a member of the TNG community, John, who related that amazing feeling of shared experience and accomplishment felt in the streets on election night to the disappointment and anger at the passage of Proposition 8 in California. I was surprised not because this seemed odd to me, but because I had been thinking the exact same thing.

The thing that makes democracy amazing is that when we accomplish something great – like electing our first African American president – it is done together, and we all share in that triumph. The downside is that sometimes things don’t go our way, we don’t see our dream realized, and that we all feel the pain of a defeat. Last night a great injustice was committed, not just in California, and not just against our brothers and sisters there and in Florida and Arizona, but in the hearts of all American people. It was in the hearts of gay folks and those who support their rights, but also in the hearts of those who stepped into the voting booth and decided that someone else’s rights were worth less than their own.

Most people in the TNG community probably didn’t hear about this, but last night in Connecticut, an amendment was passed that gives people who are 17 year old during a primary election the right to vote if they will be 18 in time for the general election. The idea is that you don’t have full voting rights at 18 if you had no say in what candidates were selected; it’s also about getting young people involved early.

Why am I bringing this up? Because four years ago, three friends and I thought this idea up in our government class, did some research, and found that some states already allowed this. We took it to our teacher, who took it to our legislator. We went to the Connecticut General Assembly two days after my 18th birthday, and we spoke before a committee on our rights as young Americans. After a lot of false starts, and the efforts of a lot of people other than our original group, an amendment based on that proposal was voted on in Connecticut yesterday. I’m ecstatic to say that it passed overwhelmingly, while a vote to hold a constitutional convention – supported by those who wanted gay marriage made illegal in my home state – failed by a similarly decisive margin.

The fact is that in America, anything can happen, and anyone can be a force of change. From that simple proposal my friends and I thought up four years ago to working for President-Elect Obama this summer to the opportunity of sharing my political thoughts on this site, I have found that there is nothing as rewarding as engaging in our democracy, and being a part of the future which we seek. As Obama said, “We are the change we’ve been waiting for.”

On Tuesday night, I was at the White House celebrating before Proposition 8 had been called. All the jadedness that has been growing like a cancer in me since moving to DC melted away. I chanted “U.S.A.”, and for the first time, I felt like an American. With the sobering reality of Proposition 8′s likely passage, nothing on that night changes – it only reaffirms the drive I feel to move forward and work even harder for the policies and freedoms that this country deserves. And it’s not just political. It’s not about court cases and getting out the vote. It’s about keeping faith in the soul of humanity and knowing that if we work hard enough, if we reach enough people, and if we never doubt that our change is possible, we will see justice in the end.

For there was great justice Tuesday night, even with this setback, and with the heartbreak that it caused. There was redemption and healing, even as we were reminded of the challenges we still face. I felt what John felt out in our streets. We were brothers and we were sisters; we were there, and we made history. And we’ll do it again, one person at a time.

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