my new column:

'Permanence in Blue'

I have a blue frog tattooed on my right shoulder. It is my first and, so far, only tattoo. I got this tattoo in early 2005, shoring in a new period in my life. For me, it symbolized that I knew more of who I was and what I wanted in my life. It signaled permanence in self-identification and a marking for the future.

As Democrats, we had a year in 2005 of finding ourselves too. After the great disappointment of the 2004 presidential 'election' and the beginning of the second Bush Administration, we wandered and wondered and seemed to be at a loss for what do to next. For a brief time at the beginning of the year, we seemed incredibly lost.

Then something remarkable happened. We began to take shape. We quit wallowing in our own misery and began to fight back anew. While still disappointed about the past, we were energized about the future. And we knew we had nothing to lose with going full throttle ahead.

Nationally, under the strident leadership of our very own Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, and our new DNC Chairman Howard Dean, we took the Republicans head-on and fought against their disastrous proposals and ugly tactics. The year of 2005 ended with their signature piece of legislation (the destruction of Social Security) end the trashcan, the Bush Administration in the doldrums, and many of their leaders in jail.

Stateside, our Democratic leaders took on the incredibly-popular Arnold. This was dangerous at the time, but we hit and kept hitting and shaped our own political winds, and by the time the year was over, we had a knock-out punch in the form of his 'special election' going down to defeat and his poll numbers in the doldrums.

For us in the LGBT community, we did much the same. We turned a variety of state ballot initiative defeats around the country on marriage equality on its head. After the stinging loss in 2004, we could have buried the issue, as we were told to do by many of our own and many of our 'friends.' But under the courageous leadership of our very own Assemblyman Mark Leno and Speaker Fabian Nunez, we marched forward. We took the issue of marriage equality from a perspective of defeat and bad-poll-numbers, to a situation where Arnold was having to defend himself for vetoing our bill. And the poll numbers were moving more and more in our favor!

Yes, 2005 was a year of finding ourselves and staking out our core values. And 2006 will be a new year full of continuing that drive, leading by example and on principle, and remembering who we are at all times. Much like a tattoo, we have permanently defined who we are. And as we head to the elections of 2006, the voters will know what being a true-Blue-Democrat means and why a Blue state is a state of the future. As we fight for a Blue 2006 throughout the nation, let our self-awareness and permanent intrinsic values lead us forward.