Now that AB 205 has passed and the Massachusetts Supreme Court has ruled it unconstitutional to keep same-sex couples from marrying, we can kick back, relax and celebrate, right?

Wrong.

We should definitely celebrate the progress we’ve made, but now we have to fight to hold onto those gains. If you’re tempted to start whining about how you never get a break because it’s just an unending process, remember that so are eating, sleeping, bathing and doing laundry, but we do them anyway. Why? Because it’s worth it. We do these things because they are necessary to keep us alive, happy and reasonably well-groomed.

The same is true of fighting for our civil rights. Yes, it is neverending. No, it is not particularly glamorous. Yes, it can sometimes be a real pain in the ass. But it is worth it.

We’ re just not very good at thinking in the long-term. You can blame it on our sound bite nation catering to a two-second attention span, or the fact that American culture places little value on anything beyond the moment, but the fact remains: we’re sprinters, not marathoners.

It’s a shame. As a community we often shoot ourselves in the foot — and worse — by our refusal to take the long-range view. Think of all the decisions that might be made differently if we considered the ramifications. Barebacking doesn’t seem like such a good idea when you consider 30 years of medication by the handful, a merry-go-round of doctors, diarrhea, nausea, facial wasting and odd, migrating lumps of fat. Even putting the moves on someone else’s girlfriend is obviously a bad decision when you consider the friendships it would ruin, the lasting resentment it would cause, and the pointless drama inherent in a situation that’s doomed from the start.

According to scientists, those who experience severe discrimination eventually lose the ability to take the long view — it’s called “foreshortened future.” It’s nice to know that there is a scientific term for our shortsightedness, but it won’t protect us from ourselves. It’s bad enough when our actions, or lack of them, affect our own futures, but we are quickly moving into a time in history when they are going to affect everyone — and for a very long time. There are historic events afoot, amazing advances, and we’re in danger of just letting them slide through our fingers.

In California we just won the greatest set of equal protections under U.S. law with the passage of AB 205 and few of us even have any idea what we’ve gained. Now Sen. Pete Knight is back on the scene with his knee-jerk referendum response, trying to put the issue on the ballot and overturn the legislation. The Massachusetts Supreme Court just ruled that it is unconstitutional to keep same-sex couples from marrying. The legislature has 180 days to come up with a workable system before the state starts issuing marriage licenses to gay couples. Now Gov. Mitt Romney is scrambling to put together an amendment to the state constitution that will make it all go away.

We are in serious danger of losing those protections if we don’t band together and take action, but far too many of us seem content to say, “Well, it’s all about marriage and I don’t want to get married, so who cares?”

Sure. You also thought you’d always stay with your first love.

It’s not all about marriage anyway. We’ve gotten so wrapped up in the m-word and whether it’s too inflammatory and whether or not using it works against us and whether it’s an outdated, inherently imperfect institution that we’ve lost sight of something very important. For the first time, we are being offered real, measurable, legal, unassailable equality and we are not stepping forward to grab it and hold on. Our community has spent years fighting for equal rights, and when we finally get within spitting distance of owning more than 300 of the rights we’ve fought, argued and even bled for, we want to stop fighting because we’re tired and bored of hearing about it.

You don’t have to do much. Just stay informed, and when the time comes, drag everyone you know to the polls and vote. If you’re interested in doing more, call the Public Policy Department at The Center at (619) 692-2077, ext. 212.

Yes, we’ve been fighting for a long time and we deserve a break. Unfortunately, we’re not likely to get one any time soon. We are a community of amazing diversity, talent, energy and ability, but if we quit now we fail — and we will have no one to blame but ourselves.