today
our civil rights
are ruled
by the coffers
of organized religion
today
our right
to love
whom we choose
commit to
whom we choose
marry
whom we choose
is dictated by
a creedo of hatred
today
we are invisible
our families negated
ghost-like
we move through our days
just like you
but not
you are the visible
the entitled
only the green, emptied
from our pockets
on demand treated
the same
today
we, in this
the golden state
stand naked before
judge and jury
stripped
of our dignity
our equal rights, disappeared
our equality, vanished
today is the day
i find myself
horrified
saddened
unbelieving
i am
a second-class citizen
in
my own country

today, i look forward

to the day

when i, too, am allowed

to cast my vote to

decide who you can love

and who you can marry…