The following is an email I sent to Aaron and David to offer my thoughts on concerns over the fate of the Supreme Court decision coming this Monday on the gay rights case Lawrence v. Texas:
"i actually think we have a strong case for winning this case. maybe i'm naive, but i think that's the way the political wind is flowing. regardless, if we lose, we lose, and we continue the fight and get more emboldened than ever.

"you and i work in a profession where there's few all-out "wins" and there's never an end. constant vigilance is annoying and hard and difficult and unsanitary. but it's a must and it can be done.

"and it's also difficult to recognize that through constant vigilance, we are making a difference in it all. but we are, and that's why it's important. even on days when we "lose" something, we are making a difference by being a part of the struggle. and even on days when we "win" something, we know that it could be taken away someday and why we must keep up the struggle regardless.

"this profession is hard and long and neverending and tiring. but we must remember that it's all a part of the abstract. while it does effect us in our lives, it only controls our lives if we let it. we must recognize that the ultimate power we each possess is control over our own life, destiny, and personhood. by having control over ourselves, we can make more positive difference in the world than any law or judicial decision.

"it wasn't laws or judicial decisions that brought the gay community to where it is today. it was US, individuals, fighting for our rights as individuals and as a group, everyday, not caring about what the law or decisions said. and that's the biggest difference in the world. and that's the power that we possess that so many forget. that power fuels our constant vigilance. and that power is what those who would fight us in our struggle for rights want us to forget and want us to not use. because they know that that is our ultimate power.

"and in order for us to wield that power fully and deeply, we must remember that we are strong individuals, strong communities, strong people and that we can and will be constantly vigilant in our struggles. and we can't let small or even large setbacks deter us from what we know is the right direction for us and for the world.

"and, secondly, in order for us to wield that strength fully, we also must take care of ourselves, our individuality, our personhood by constantly and vigilantly renewing our inner spirit, recognizing our power to control our own destinies, and remembering that we are stronger when we are whole. our individual life is our strongest power. we control it; we define it; we advance it; we nurture it. by being and projecting the strongest individual we can be, we are making the biggest difference there is. because the other side doesn't want us to be an individual; they want us to be assimilated.

"so nurture yourself, recognize your control and power, remember that we are more than a law or a judicial decision or an election. we are what they fear most; we are never going to give up; we are constantly vigilant. and we are strong within so that we can be strong in the fight."