Billie Jean's talk last night stirred up a lot of brain cells for me. How incredible to get to be in the company of such a leader. And what a doofus I am to have to be talked in to going last night, for a free event.
Anyhow, let me talk about my conversation with her. Because of this damn foot thing, I was in a wheel chair, provided by my friend Sharon. (You can read about her here.) Once again dealing with the very important issues of how does one get down to a floor with the elevator working. As usual, my snotty ass self made sure Sharon and I were front row.
I digress. After the speech, I rolled up to the stage to try to schmooze with the mother of women's sports. I finally rolled my way in front of her and had a lovely conversation. Introduced myself as the only Latina lesbian to ever address a presidential convention. She asked what I talked about. I told her it was about real family values, how my cousin's baby had died and they didn't care who my partner was but that I was part of the family and showed up for them. She agreed, talking about family was really important. I thanked her for opening the door for people like me. Her response, "We help each other."
BJK was so accessible, so friendly, so supportive, it was just unbelievable to hear the stories. The Bobby Riggs story, her galimony case, her start in tennis, what she did for women's sports, all were so important in the country's history, womens' history, LGBT history.
The critical piece I heard time and time again, tell your truth. Tell the truth about who you are, what you want, what your opinions are in every day of your life. And if you don't know the truth for yourself, find out. Find out who you are, no matter how painful because if you tell the truth about who you are, you can tell the truth to the world and make a difference.
No wonder I slept better last night, I am surrounded by women who tell the truth and make a difference, starting with me.
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