I guess you never realize what something really means to you
Until it’s gone.
I only just realized the effect
Of the Sodomy Law
Yesterday, when the Supreme Court finally overruled it.

With the Sodomy Law
Figuring out you are gay
That painful stage I went through
Somewhere between the age of thirteen and twenty-three
Is like being expelled from civil society.

You are forced to choose between the most urgent feelings of your heart
And being a law abiding citizen.
Guess which one goes out the window?
But the awareness of illegitimacy follows you around
Like a stalker.

And what about all those people who say
You don’t deserve respect
You don’t deserve security
Your person has no sanctity
Because you are a criminal?

You have to fight for your own sense of legitimacy.
And that’s maybe not a bad thing,
Because you learn that the only true respect is what you give yourself.
But it erodes the fabric of the common life
Of what all members of civil society are supposed to share.

It erodes respect for the law, too
And isn’t that what we can’t afford to lose
In a world striving for the rule of law?
I discovered that Supreme Court ruling gave me a new gift
Of respect for the law, something I’d forgotten I care about.

And now that those damnable laws are dead,
Melted away like the Wicked Witch after that shower from Dorothy’s bucket,
For the first time I feel like I have a right to the sky
I too can walk with my head tall and say
This is my country too.