We Have Power: Brown Dems Say ‘Thank You’

The following is a statement by the Brown University Democrats. The opinions expressed are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Brown Political Review. 

The state of Rhode Island did something incredible over this past April and May. Our public officials answered the support of sixty percent of Rhode Islanders and extended the fundamental rights of marriage to same-sex couples in the Ocean State.

We would like to thank all of the Brown students who showed up in force to make sure that the side of equality and justice won the day. We could not be more grateful.

Through months of phone calls and one-on-one conversations, you reached out to 4,600 Rhode Islanders and mobilized 1,900 supporters of marriage equality. You worked through poor weather, put aside schoolwork and came prepared to fight difficult odds, all because you refused to give up hope or let apathy stifle the possibility of progress.

With the help of your efforts, gay couples will enjoy all the legal benefits provided to straight couples, and will no longer carry the demeaning status of “separate but equal.” Rhode Islanders will have one less source of discrimination weighing them down as they navigate a society that still has a long way to go in cultivating acceptable attitudes towards the LGBTQ community.

But just as importantly, passing marriage equality sends a powerful, beautiful message to youth across America. Through your actions, you have promoted a message of love and equality to gay children and teenagers that might help them feel a little less alone, a little more secure or a little more self-confident to fight back against the discrimination that plagues their lives.

This is a big deal. And you helped make it a reality.

We say this because it is often easy to lose faith in our political process. One of the most common ways politicians deal with problems is to do nothing at all. When changes are finally accomplished, after months of bickering and interminable waiting, they are often watered-down and scattered with loopholes and sweetheart deals. Supporters are disappointed, opponents are enraged, average citizens are alienated due to a lack of transparency, and politics delves even further down into the depths.

This leads many people to feel that they don’t really have any political power at all, and that their voice is not going to be heard unless they are wealthy, a lobbyist, or one of the elite few already entrenched within our institutional structures.

But this recent battle for marriage equality should remind us that we as students can wield considerable political power if we choose to do so. For whatever issues we feel passionately about, whether they are education, the environment, homelessness, women’s rights, military intervention or LGBTQ equality, we can make a difference if we stand together with activists across the state and demand change. When the future of civil rights for our LGBTQ friends and family members were on the line, students of all political persuasions came together, organized, and helped make American history.

We have power. We must not forget that. And we need to keep using it.