It’s hard for me to believe that eight years have passed and that San Diego LGBT Pride 2008 will be my last Pride as the Councilmember for District 3. Thank you for allowing me to serve!

Reflecting on the last eight years, I’ve seen tremendous change on issues of importance to our GLBT community. Some of this change is demonstrated by the visibility of elected officials who support us. In 2000, as the second open lesbian to serve on the City Council, I was joined by two of my council colleagues, Scott Peters and Ralph Inzunza, in the Pride parade. By contrast, last year almost the entire slate of councilmembers, the mayor and the city attorney joined in the parade to celebrate with us and to demonstrate their support for our community. The growing and open support by our elected leaders is telling of the broader acceptance for which our community has so long struggled.

This year’s Pride theme, “Live, Love, Be,” is quite profound in expressing what we, in our community, continue to struggle for every day – a vision that one day we will actually be able to simply live, love and be. This means to be accepted for who we are; to serve our country proudly in the military; to celebrate and nurture our children; to participate fully in our communities; and to legally marry our chosen love.

There is much to which I could point to show our progress for civil rights over the last decade in the state and nation. Instead, I want to focus on our own region and say thank you to the GLBT community members for your work here in San Diego to expand our civil rights. The right to legally marry the person of our choice is as significant as women gaining the right to vote, or blacks no longer being considered 3/5 a person. In California, we have come to that pivotal moment where we, too, become whole human beings under the law with all of the rights, privileges and responsibilities as others – including marriage.

San Diegans played a huge role in setting the stage for this historic moment. The City Council, our mayor, and our city attorney ensured that we signed on in support of marriage equality. We were able to do that because of the strong voice from the community that prompted the elected officials to respond to their constituents – YOU. So, thank you! Now, we need to complete the job.

What we gained by the California State Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling in support of marriage equality in May, others are now trying to take away from us. A coalition of well funded anti-GLBT organizations has gathered signatures and placed an initiative, Proposition 8, on the November ballot to not only rescind that legal right, but to ban same-sex marriage in our state constitution.

Between now and Nov. 4, we will need to join together and work as hard as we ever have! The eyes of the nation and even the world are upon us. Losing would set our civil rights back by decades. That is not a legacy we can afford to leave for the younger members of our community.

So, what can you do? Talk to your friends, gay and straight alike. Make sure they’re registered to vote. Make sure they actually go vote. Volunteer your time to make phone calls. Give money to the “No on 8” campaign – any amount will help. For more information, please visit the campaign Web site at www.equalityforall.com. I know San Diegans will do our part as we always have.

So, what do we want? We want to live, love and be, now, and beyond Nov. 4, 2008.