Since women kind of cleaned house last night in the elections and Akin and Murdock so didn’t win, I’m feeling a wave of relief I had been waiting for.

Jaded as I am, it’s time to take a minute to celebrate these victories and the small steps forward we are taking as a nation. We voted, and we said no thanks to all the men saying ridiculous horribleness about women’s bodies, rape, abortion. And I actually think young generations have some progress to look forward to. We aren’t going to outlaw gay marriage forever and ever off into the sunset. It just won’t happen. We are moving on.

We elected the first openly gay Senator! Oh Tammy Baldwin! In a lot of ways, I was more excited about that than any other aspect of the election. We are over it enough to elect a lesbian. That is a step. Seriously.

Plus, the voters all did right given the choice on gay rights:

Maine legalized gay marriage!

Washington upheld gay marriage!

Maryland upheld gay marriage!

Minnesota voted to not change the constitution to ban gay marriage.

And for a breakdown, here is my new favorite graphic for gay rights state by state. Slowly but surely!

YAY!