Marching...again

As blogging surged in the world of social media, we bloggers learned some lessons. One of those was a responsibility to be aware that what we wrote about would have consequences, and that those would not always be what we wanted them to be; loss of relationships, anger, un-following.  While I write for myself, I've always tried to be conscience that some of the things I say on my blog can rub others the wrong way. Read me or not. That's the blogger motto, and while I don't always censor my feelings, I haven't always said everything I'd like to say at times either.

This is going to be one of those times.

Today I took part in the Women's March in my neck of the woods. It was a peaceful, exhilarating, tearfully, and emotional time. While I would have liked to have marched in our capital, I didn't jump on the bandwagon soon enough, and was lucky to have a march close by. I marched with my daughter, my pseudo daughter, my sister-in-law, and my daughter's friend. I marched with over 20,000 other women and men from all walks of life and from all races and religions. We marched with one goal in mind; the mission statement from the Women's March on Washington: We stand together in solidarity with our partners and children for the protection of our rights, our safety, our health, and our families - recognizing that our vibrant and diverse communities are the strength of our country.

I was raised by a woman who believed in women's rights with a passion that ultimately turned against her. She raised my brother and me to be caring, loving, morally responsible individuals who followed and respected the law, others, and each other. I believed I turned out just fine with those values, and I, in turn raised my children the same way. We believe in the inherent worth and dignity of everyone, no matter our differences.

So yesterday I marched. I marched for my gay family members. I marched for my gay friends. They are humans, and they deserve respect and the same rights that I do. I marched for my Muslim neighbors, for my Catholic family, for my Jewish friends and family, for my Buddhist practicing aunt, for my Unitarian Universalists friends and family, for my family and friends of all religion, and for my atheist mother and friends. They are humans, and they deserve the same rights that I do. I marched for my black family and black friends. I marched for my Indian friends. I marched for everyone with different skin color. They are human beings and deserve the same rights and respect that I do. I marched for my friends and family members who have had abortions, for my family and friends who have had cancer, for my family and friends who have debilitating diseases, and for my friends and family who have no, little, or crappy insurances. They are humans and they deserve to have access to affordable healthcare, mammograms, yearly physicals, pap smears, therapy, medication, birth control, and healthcare for their children. They deserve to be able to control their own bodies. I marched for all women. We are humans. We deserve the same rights.

This isn't anything new, of course. Women before us marched. Women before us brought about changes. Women before us fought to get us the right to vote. We didn't always have that right. We didn't always have a lot of rights. Today the march was about making sure that no one forgets how far we have all come. All we ask is that we don't go backward.

That's what those marches were about today. Respecting one another despite our beliefs, our differences, our skin color, our religions, our feelings. We are all different in so many ways, and that's okay. I respect that. Please respect me. Please don't let us go backwards.