I just got back from LA last night, after a weekend of geeking out at Blizzcon, and hitting Universal Studios and Sea World. I came in to work late today, and at some point just after noon, one of my coworkers casually mentioned that Ted Kennedy had died. I did a double take, and asked if he was sure. Yes, he was.
I came back here, into my office, and began to thread through the news in saddened shock.
Ted Kennedy, the Liberal Lion of the Senate, one of the world’s greatest voices for Human Rights, a Statesman who demonstrated for all the capacity for any person to reach beyond their baser nature and better themselves, is gone. I suspect that history itself will resound with the loss – the fall of a warrior who fought for his principles to his last breath.
I think, that of all the tributes and platitudes that I’ve read today, Vice President Joe Biden’s words are the most powerful, most telling of all. Take a moment to watch & listen:
Ted Kennedy is a hero to me- not because of his political or personal accomplishments, but because he worked to ensure that I can some day I can have equal civil and human rights. Ted Kennedy was my champion. He voted against DOMA, voted to include sexual orientation in hate crime laws, voted for an inclusive ENDA, voted for the Ryan White AIDS Care Act, and was working with others to repeal DADT. Few have done as much for the LGBT community as Sen. Kennedy.
I sit here with a lump in my throat this evening, and convey my deepest sympathy to his family, and to this nation – so many of whose citizens probably don’t even realize what they’ve lost.
