…injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere…

This is a monumental time for the gay rights movement. We are on the brink of marriage equality and support throughout the United States for gay rights is at an all time high. And while this is all amazing and exciting I think we all need to take a step back. As stated above this is a monumental time for gay rights. And by gay rights I don't mean LGBT rights...well its half of the LGBT community. Exclusively the gay and lesbian half. If this marriage equality bill is passed there will be huge exclamations of joy and relief from the approximate 8 million lesbian and gay individuals in the United States. There are approximately 700,000 people who identify as transgender in the United States. And the voices of 700,000 people saying "What about us?" will be drowned out by the millions screaming "EQUALITY FINALLY!" Unfortunately we often forget about our transgender and bisexual family. Which is what we are...a huge family. And no one should be left behind in the fight for equality. We have lost our heads in this supposed fight for equal rights or gay marriage or whatever you would like to call it. We are consumed by the idea that if gay and lesbian couples acquire the right to marry the fight for equal rights is practically over when in fact we've just begun. The transgender community doesn't even have marriage on their mind, they would simply like to go to a bathroom without fearing for their lives. The thought of not being able to do something as simple as that is terrifying. I do identify as a lesbian and I agree that we need to fight for our rights as well but we need to remember this is the LGBT community not just the LG community. This marriage equality bill will barely scratch the surface of the things we need to get done. Yes if this bill passes it will allow American gay and lesbian couples to get married. But what if I choose to marry someone outside of the country? Do they become citizens as they would if it were a heterosexual couple getting married? This is where the "rights" we will be given according to this bill become cloudy. There is no such thing as being half equal or being given a half right. You either are given all your equal rights or you aren't. Even if this bill is passed there will still be no such thing as equal rights for the LGBT community. We need to take all the support we are getting as far as gay marriage and use it to rally people to lift up our transgender and bisexual brothers and sisters and everything in between. Throughout history I believe the LGBT community has been seen as a united front. All of us linked arms in our march towards equality. But somehow the lesbian and gay community have let go of some of these arms and have continued their march forward unified as the LG part of LGBT. What we need to do is stop, turn around and walk back. Walk back into the arms of our transgender and bisexual families. They are there waiting for us. They are fighting but they need our help. Yes its true, this marriage equality bill would be a huge step for the gay and lesbian community but I would prefer to take our huge step towards equality together. United. As the huge, diverse, colorful, creative and beautiful LGBT family that we are.