I’m writing this on the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Bobby Kennedy, a day that plunged my political soul into a despair from which it did not recover until three years ago. Today, my children’s generation is finding the art of hope in itself, thanks to the candidacy of Barack Obama.

RFK made my dreams seem possible. His conversion from a scion of America’s most aristocratic family into a man of the people was truly inspiring, and spoke to a youth who one day hoped to have the courage to make her own improbable journey. The excitement of the early months of 1968, forever marred by the tears I shed standing in St. Patrick’s Cathedral on June 8th, are mirrored by the cynicism and despair of the Bush years. That despondency is finally giving way to a confidence I thought I would never see again.

When I was asked during our District 18 forum in 2006 the name of my political role model, I answered, “Bobby Kennedy.” He was living history to me – tangible, present. But still history. My sons, on the other hand, have a guiding leader who does for them what Bobby did for me forty years ago – make belief in America real. For this I am deeply thankful.

Over the past two years I have had the pleasure to serve Councilmember Duchy Trachtenberg, a leader in her own right on the County Council. A freshman member in 2006, she has already left a mark on Montgomery County, having sponsored legislation to ban toxic trans fats, establish a Family Justice Center to provide a full measure of support to battered women and their children, and fully protect the rights of the transgender population. She was an architect of the 2008 budget compromise, standing tall for fairness for all residents and taxpayers in the county. She has brought her concern for the marginalized and vulnerable into the corridors of power, and made a mark at not even the halfway point of her first term. It’s been my pleasure to take part in those accomplishments.

Beyond my work with Councilmember Trachtenberg, I am engaged in:

• Basic Rights Montgomery’s challenge to the attempt to put the transgender civil rights law to a referendum vote.
• Work with the local Task Force of the American Psychiatric Association to help revise the mental health bible, the DSM.
• Leadership to advance gender rights for all people through my service on the boards of a number of national civil rights organizations, as well as the state’s premier LGBT civil rights organization,
• Equality Maryland, where I serve as Vice President.
• Provision of medical care to the uninsured in Montgomery County through my work on the board of Mobile Medical Care.
• Leadership to advance women’s rights and women’s health as Executive Vice President of Maryland NOW.
• Leadership to create a network of progressive groups with the clout to move a progressive agenda in Annapolis, and to change the county state delegation electorally if that agenda is stymied once again.
• Leadership to provide comprehensive health education with the parents’ organization, teachthefacts.
• Educating the next generation of students and physicians on human biology.
• Work to remove the toxins called endocrine disruptors from our environment.

A new progressive agenda of liberty, security and opportunity is taking shape in America. More are speaking out clearly in support of policies that will benefit all, rather than winner-take-all. But we need new leadership that is not just progressive in name, but progressive in the sense of stepping forward to transform the landscape to allow life to flourish once again. Leadership willing to take risks, to try innovative solutions, to consider our most vexing problems from a new and daring perspective. I work every day, in all my endeavors, to provide my children and their generation, as well as my parents and theirs, a more secure and hopeful future.