.@BarackObama, my president, just one more favor, please!

Dear Mr. President,

On this day, February 15, 2016, we celebrate President’s Day in the United States. Of all the many wonderful, intelligent and inspiring presidents we honor today, you alone are my president. As a gay man coming of age in the Reagan years, I watched as my brothers fell one by one, dying of the dreaded disease we now know as AIDS. In those years, the president and the country were not ready to embrace and support their fellow human beings as they fought for their lives and equality. It would take a couple decades and several more presidents to move the needle of equality to a place where a basic human right, dignity, would be considered important enough to defend in the highest court in our land, the Supreme Court of the United States.

You have answered my prayers Mr. President. You made some very difficult political decisions that at times must have terrified you. Your presidency has been guided by a power higher than the Supreme Court and the SCOTUS decisions of the last few years, have finally allowed this and future generations of gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer and transgender people to live with dignity. For that I applaud and thank you, Mr. President. You have given this gay man hope and the inspiration to continue the fight – our work is not done. There remain places on this planet where LGBTQ people, along with other less fortunate people, cannot live as their creator intended.

So today, I have to ask you for just one more favor. Please Mr. President, you must find a replacement for Justice Scalia that will continue the progress of human equality. This task must weigh heavily on you. I write today to tell you that we are all rooting for you. You have the courage, strength and intelligence to complete the most important task of your presidency. Remember, the choice we’re making may save our very lives. Please Mr. President, seek counsel with an authority higher than the congress, the supreme court, senate or the bipartisan political body.  The human race is depending on you and I know you will get this one right too. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Culver Connor McCall

ps: Over the weekend, while the world mourned, honored and vilified justice Scalia, my love Enrique Padilla Jr. and I celebrated twenty two years together. Our love has survived Regan, Bush, Clinton and Bush. Thank you Antonin Scalia for making our twenty second anniversary so sweet, important and memorable. #lovewins

Image credit: S2O, painting by Jeff Huntington.