I consider myself to be mostly "Out"...however there's one realm of my life I have kept completely separate from my sexual orientation: My extended family. I don't see most of them more than once every few years, and while we never talk politics, many of them are Catholics and seems conservative. So I've just felt it better to not come out to them...but I can't stay silent anymore.

I just don't care who knows.

What happened November 2nd, the passage of the 11 same-sex marriage bans, hits me straight in the gut. This issue directly affects my life, my happiness. For someone to tell me that their morals are better than mine simply because I am a woman and I want to marry a woman someday is just plain wrong.

This election has affected me to an extent I never imagined possible. I've never felt this much dispair toward the state of our nation before. And it hurts.

So I let everyone know that. I posted an entry into my online journal on my personal website that explains my feelings on the issue. And while I didn't say "I am a lesbian," anyone who reads it should understand that I include myself in the "we" that I kept on using. My extended family has access to that journal. I don't know if any of them will actually read it, or if they're even going to care, but I just had to express how I am feeling.

Maybe if the nation is woken up and made to realize just how much their discriminatory decisions are hurting so many American citizens, then opinions will slowly change for the better. It doesn't hurt to try.

~Tiffany

::Edited for my poor grammar caused by my state of mind during the initial post::