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Goodnight moon

Goodnight kittens

Goodnight little house

After house hunting in the Crescent City for two years, I bought my home in the Milan neighborhood in April of 2005. Unfortunately, a storm named Katrina came in August and brought devastation to the entire area, including five feet of water in my new place.

After repairing my house and fixing the soil damaged by the heavy metals and pollutants in the flood water, I planted a scent garden in the back yard with night blooming jasmine, wisteria, white ginger, sweet olive and magnolia. I spent many an evening, drinking in the heady perfumes and it was there I made the decision to leave.

Yesterday, I sold my house.

During the close process, I have been reflecting on my twenty years in New Orleans.

Soon after I arrived, Louisiana put in the constitution a ban on same-sex marriage. By an overwhelming 78% of the vote, the citizens made it unconstitutional to recognize or perform same sex marriages or civil unions in the state. In New Orleans, where I had immediately felt sense of welcome, the ballot measure to restrict marriage still won a majority of the vote.

For all the rainbow flags and acceptance, to have the vote go the way it did, lit a fire in me to work for change in my new home.

I was already volunteering with the Lesbian and Gay Community Center and took over as President and Board Chair post storm. Soon, though, I wanted to be more political and so I become Managing Director of the Forum for Equality, where I could work across the state to educate, advocate and elect to improve the civil rights of LGBTQ+ Louisianans.

I was also involved with women’s rights and travelled with friends from Greater New Orleans NOW to DC for the March for Women’s Lives in 2004. I became active with Greater New Orleans National Organization for Women. After the storm, I joined the Independent Women’s Organization for its rebirth and continued fight for equal rights and greater representation.

An avid reader of lesbian literature, I attended the first ever Golden Crown Literary Society Literary Conference that was held in New Orleans in 2005 and it opened my eyes to become more than just a reader of women-loving-women literature. I joined their board and, after honing my craft at several subsequent conferences and with the encouragement of many generous authors, I published my first novel (Unbroken Circle) with Bella Books in 2011. I helped bring the conference back to New Orleans in 2015, ahead of the publication of my fourth novel, Bitter Heart.

Even while writing, I was still fighting for change. At the Louisiana legislature we brought forth anti-bullying bills, employment non-discrimination bills and beat back numerous bad bills brought by those emboldened by the marriage vote. Along the way, I garnered some recognition for my efforts: in 2012, I was honored to receive HRC Louisiana’s Equality Award and in 2013, I received the Equality Louisiana Legends Award.

In 2015, with marriage equality the law of the land by Supreme Court ruling, a lot of LGBTQ+ advocates were feeling optimistic. Unfortunately, Trump happened and the effort to expand rights became a desperate fight against the erosion of the gains we had made. With supermajorities close in both House and Senate, the Louisiana state legislature became a truly hostile place. We knew the governor’s failure to veto anti-trans legislation last year probably meant there would be more attempts to attack our communities. And in fact, this year saw nine anti-LGBTQ+ bills put forth at the Louisiana legislature, attacking trans kids, gender affirming healthcare, book bans and even saying gay in schools.

It is hard to stay someplace where you don’t feel safe.

Then, the pandemic put the ability of systems and services of local governments to respond to emergencies in to question (made worse by the lack of common sense of many of my fellow Louisianians who refused to mask, social distance or vaccinate). Storms kept coming and recovery after Hurricane Ida took a hard toll on my renters and myself. The thought of facing more devastating storms became the stuff of nightmares. Once you add poor infrastructure (roads, power, sewerage and water) to far too many politicians making things harder for people like me and it was time to go.

I have loved the time I’ve spent and people I’ve met here. It has been an honor and a pleasure to work with some of the most dedicated progressive advocates in the country. But it is time to say goodbye and goodnight. Good night stars and goodnight air.

Goodnight noises everywhere.

(Thanks to Margaret Wise Brown for the Goodnight Moon Book)