“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Each year, the end of June and the end of the US Supreme Court term would often bring our Nation to our next interpretations of this most important statement. This statement runs through us as Americans, or at least it is supposed to. What we would see at the end of these terms was joy and an undeniable breathe of fresh air for the future. Just as our Founding Fathers left these legal texts vague in order to grow and change with the times, the Supreme Court would interpret and utilize precedent to lead our Nation forward, not backward. This movement forward was inherently conservative in nature, by the way.

There was Shelly v. Kraemer in 1948, which held that racially restrictive housing covenants cannot legally be enforced, essentially making ‘redlining’ of housing/neighborhoods illegal. There was Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, which ruled that state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segregated schools are otherwise equal in quality—ultimately overturning portions of Plessy v. Ferguson which had used ‘Separate but Equal’ as a veil for Jim Crow and never truly provided equality to People of Color who were already starting a lap behind from the start of the race of life. There was Loving v. Virginia in 1967, which ruled that laws banning interracial marriage violate the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution. There was Roe v. Wade in 1973, which ruled that the Constitution generally protected a pregnant individual’s liberty to have an abortion.

And there was Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015, which ruled that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples under multiple clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution—a decision which had me with visible joy and shedding happy tears even before I was ‘out’ as a queer man on that day in late June. The list goes on and on, these moments when the US Supreme Court was able to interpret law AND consider and respect the Nation’s conscience at the same time—they were able to support and let prosper civil and human rights when even our politics stood in the way of our policymakers achieving the same results.

Now, this court of nine PERMANENT lifetime appointment judges, or really the six conservative republican-appointed judges, are determining, manipulating, and even overturning the biggest issues of our time. The court is no longer working in the best interests of the people, they are working in the best interests of those who hold the most power, they are working in the best interests of those who choose power over what is fair and equal, and they are working in the best interests of those who take them and their families on lavish vacations and trips. We are seeing what we have long seen in our politics also infiltrate the very institution that is supposed to hold accountable the individuals and groups who divide rather than continue to hold up the principles of the United States of America.

Tonight, many of us will go to bed with less rights and with less hope for the future of America. Because now, it is possible that my partner and I could be removed from a restaurant for being in love, for being who we are (but screw that restaurant anyways). Because now, it is even less likely that I will soon be able to build wealth like the previous generations before me.

Tomorrow, we are not living in a better America. Tomorrow and the days ahead, we will continue to see our social networks and our young people suffer from anxiety that hate brings upon us. The LGBTQ+ community will continue to suffer. Young people who just wanted to get a college education in a field they are passionate about, and many minoritized people who had not had the option previously, will continue to suffer. Trans people will continue to be ridiculed, bullied, and even killed on our streets for being who they are. Because these decisions, veiled in conservatism and religious freedoms, are only empowering a more hateful country, and they are only making it more likely that the politics of hate will deny us of the things that actually matter, and of the solutions that will actually make a difference in each and every one of our lives.

To those to my right, look deeper into yourself and if you are religious or white or male or ‘normal,’ ask yourself why you are so afraid of people who are different from you. Ask yourself why you believe your religion, grounded in love and respect for other humans, has you feeling like you need to fuel hate. Ask yourself if our country is better today than it was decades ago, or if it is worse. Look inward, and then again look outward to what is possible for all of us if we could just figure out a way to respect and cherish others.

To those of us on the left, and to those of us who identify as LGBTQ+, we just have to keep on fighting. If there was ever a more powerful reminder of why we have Pride Month, this is it. And despite all of the harm that is being done, enjoy this final day of OUR month and tomorrow come back to the front lines of what empowers you, whether it be furthering your education, building a career, building a friendship, or loving yourself or falling in love with another. Love is love, y’all, and there is no court or political party that gets to take that away. We get to choose if hope remains, do not forget that.

So I will remind you again of what is supposed to bring us together, endowed by whatever God or Higher Power you believe in, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”