It’s hard to believe that only days after writing the previous blog post about coming out in the Deep South we’d be celebrating the Supreme Court’s decision to legalize gay marriage nationwide. I woke this morning on the West Coast to texts and emails from friends on the East Coast sharing the news.

After a celebratory dance, in the kitchen with my wife, in our pajamas, I had two thoughts. The first was that we’d be able to move back to Georgia if we wanted to at some point in the future because I wouldn’t have to worry about my wife not being protected by the law, or our relationship. Now they both are. And then the second thought was that for youngsters in the future, everything would be different.

Future generations of kids won’t have to hide their feelings or feel lesser than others for who they love. They’ll be able to marry and create a family with the person they fall in love with, regardless of gender. Discrimination against gay people will be something they read about in history books. As decades pass it’ll sound as strange to them as racial segregation now sounds to us.

The passage of marriage equality is a great legacy for our generation to leave to the next. We send the message that “love truly is the greatest unseen force in in the universe.” That love has the power to ultimately triumph over bigotry, dogma and even politics.

In an interview about my first book, All Things Rise, I said that I imagined a time when being gay is as unquestioned and un-judged as is having blue eyes. That some might call it fantasy or science fiction, but that I’d like to think it’s the future.

I’m celebrating today because the future is now.

President Obama commemorated today’s historic Supreme Court ruling with a quote from Robert Kennedy. It’s one of my favorites, and it’s a great call to action for any injustice:

“Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”

Love won!