Let me finish tonight with this: President Obama remains a maker of history.
He was the first African-American to serve as our president. Now he is a leader of another kind, the first president to state his support for recognizing the marriage of partners of the same sex.
However the circumstances, he now stands for re-election with this fact on the table. He stands against a candidate, Mitt Romney, who says he will never give up his opposition to gay marriage, a candidate who refuses to stand up for a gay man who has just been run out of his campaign.
Could there be a grander canyon between these two men: one fully in support of the right of gay people to marry; one totally against that right.
It will take a bit of time to see how this affects the presidential election. But I have to wonder how gay men and women who now work for the election of Republican members of Congress, senators, and Romney himself can sit in their work seats and refuse to stand up, walk in the direction of their bosses and candidates, and ask them to join the President on this? I have to wonder how long they can remain indentured servants, how long can they continue to accept the Republican party's "don't ask, don't tell" rule--that you can work here as long as you keep your mouth shut on what you believe, on the life you aspire to, on those you love.
But tonight I honor a president who, regardless of the political consequences, has declared for all the world to hear that all God's children have a right to love as they were born to love.
That ought to count for something no matter which way the chips in this election fall.