Why I Am A Progressive

Image from Project for the Old American Century

Few better places than Texas exist for growing up progressive. If your beliefs can survive being tempered in the forges of that blood-red state, they can survive anything. I remember in 1979 as a ten year old when we had our classroom “election.” Our teachers did not believe in secret ballots. Guess who was the one kid who didn’t vote for Reagan? Even the black kid voted for Reagan. That’s how Republican it was.

Life would have been easier if I had become conservative. Heck, it would have been easier if I had simply kept quiet about being a progressive. I can’t stay quiet or pretend to be a conservative. When I do that, it just about kills me. I figure it’s healthier for me to just keep raising hell.

My earliest memory of anything political comes from high school. Our school district enacted a dress code I objected to – so I went to school wearing a skirt to protest. That hasn’t changed; you’ll still more likely find me in a kilt than pants.

I was also kicked out of high school for funding and publishing an underground paper. All it contained was short stories and poetry – no sex, minimal drug references and actual advertising paid for the printing (until the school called the advertisers and they cancelled their checks). I was lucky, my parents backed me and threatened to sue and I was reinstated into school. A result of this is my undying passion for the First Amendment.

For one of my first political campaigns, I proudly campaigned for Ann Richards and if I could I’d vote for her again. Ann kicked ass. She made no apologies for being a Democrat in a day and age when it seemed like every Texas Democrat wanted to announce they had become a Republican. Ann Richards stood up for equal opportunity for every Texan – even the dark skinned ones! That wasn’t very common in Texas and still isn’t.

I cannot separate my moral values and my progressive beliefs. I express my moral values by fighting for progressive causes. All people are the children of God (however that God is conceived – Goddess, Buddha, Allah, Jehovah et al.), and all of God’s children deserve respect. We have a responsibility to each other. Our Creator gave us this earth and if we are stewards of it, then a responsible steward cares for, nurtures and respects that which the steward is responsible for. If God gifted us with brains, then we must honor God by using those brains both creatively and rationally.

Today I am a progressive because I want my daughter to live in a better world than the one I live in. She should never have to be paid less than men for the same job. Nobody should tell her what to do with her body or forbid her to enjoy her sexuality. Her future should be filled with a rainbow of friends representing all of humanity. When she has grandchildren, they should walk on a greener earth and breathe clean air.

That’s why I am a progressive.