Right now, as we all try to make sense of why our desire to serve is being tossed back and forth like a political football, I wanted to take a break from the madness and share this letter from Tammy Aaberg. Tammy is the mother of Justin Aaberg, who took his life way too early.
As a mother myself, my heart aches for her. I am fighting for the full legal and social equality of LGBT Americans because I don’t want one more loved one to live through Tammy’s experience. The fact that our lives are being tossed around the political sphere right now creates the very narrative that have driven so many of us into places of despair and hopelessness. Government-sanctioned discrimination — from military discrimination to unsafe schools to employment discrimination to the inability to marry those we love — sets up a reality that LGBT Americans are “less than” and, in those darkest moments, expendable.
Our children should not have to wait for things to get better — our elected leaders can make things better by pushing for the change that they’ve promised. Everyone from our children to our elders deserves to live a life with dignity, integrity and respect — and to be offered equal opportunity and protections in all matters governed by civil law. We need more than words, we need action.
Robin McGehee, GetEQUAL Director
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Dear friends,
Nothing — absolutely nothing — can prepare you for the despair and grief of losing a child.
My middle son, Justin, was a joyful boy — he had many friends and was an incredible cellist. And, without my knowledge, he was bullied frequently by his classmates — so much so that he took his own life.
Justin was a beautiful child, and was growing up to be a beautiful young man. I wish that I had known about his pain and I wish that he had a government around him courageous enough to serve as an example in strength and resolve — an example that he could have looked to for hope in his desperation.
Though Justin didn’t have the hope he needed to push forward, I know that there are youth out there — including these three incredibly courageous young people from the South, who have stood up for what they believed in regardless of personal cost. Our leaders could learn a thing or two from the courageous examples these young people are displaying. They’ve recorded a video message to President Obama and to Congress, asking for action, not words, and I’d like to share that video with you:
After you watch the video, I hope you’ll sign GetEQUAL’s petition to President Obama to take immediate action to make things better for LGBT Americans.
The three young people in this video have risen above their challenges and have turned them into a source of strength — but not everyone is as strong as they are. We owe it to our youth to give them better than what they have now — to be treated equally like every young American should be treated — and to ensure that they can go to school in safety, marry who they love, thrive in their jobs without risk of random firing, and grow into the beautiful human beings they’re destined to become.
Please, join me in sharing the message of my sweet boy, Justin. I hope, after hearing my message and watching this video, you’ll join me in asking President Obama to show the leadership we so desperately need in order the make things better.
Tammy Aaberg
P.S. — If you’re looking for other examples of young people taking active steps to “make it better,” check out the Make It Better Project from the GSA Network: http://makeitbetterproject.org/.
