Earlier today, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed (by a vote of 10-8) the Respect for Marriage Act, as reported on Queerty. This act would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defined a marriage as between one man and one woman for the country. The Respect for Marriage Act doesn’t force states to legally recognize homosexual marriage; however, for those states that do, this would allow same sex couples the right to federal benefits accorded to married heterosexual couples.

ThinkProgress reports that a White House Official made the following statement on the committee’s vote: “The President has long believed that DOMA is discriminatory and has called for its repeal. We should all work towards taking this law off the books. The federal government should not deny gay and lesbian couples the same rights and legal protections afforded to straight couples.”

While I’m glad to hear of the vote and President Obama’s words of encouragement, I’m also a realist. The Respect for Marriage Act has little hope of passing in the Senate, where conservative Republicans lie in wait to tear this act asunder. And though President Obama made many promises in his election bid, I’ve yet to see many of them fulfilled.

Still, I won’t give up hope. I’ll take this as a good sign, that we are headed in the right direction. We might not get there tomorrow or next year, but that doesn’t mean we won’t eventually get there! After all, we’ve traveled a long way down the road to equality–6 states recognize gay marriage, DADT has been repealed, and hate crime laws and anti-bullying bills are being passed in many states.

Gay rights have come a long way, and with determination and fortitude, we’ll go all the way to full equality.

Whether conservatives or Christian fundamentalists like it or not, the closet doors are open and we aren’t going back in!