On this day in 1961, residents of the District finally gained the right to vote in presidential elections when Ohio became the 38th state to ratify the 23rd Amendment to the Constitution. Yes, that’s right — prior to the amendment’s ratification, residents of the District weren’t only denied any semblance of local governance, but were also completely shut out of national politics too.

In an excellent op-ed in The New York Times, Northwestern University historian Karen Masur writes that while the 23rd Amendment inched DIstrict residents closer to their counterparts in the 50 states, they remained frustratingly left behind:

Washington is an undemocratic anomaly, despite the grand ideals of equal rights carved into the city’s stone monuments. Its second-class citizenship is a legacy of racial injustice and, more recently, partisanship in Congress […] Today, as the black population edges downward from a majority toward a plurality, the capital’s residents remain at the mercy of Congress. They are represented by a lone House delegate with limited voting rights. Even their hold on home rule, granted at last in 1973, is tenuous. City budgets require approval by Congress, and Republican lawmakers have overruled or threatened local decisions on issues like needle exchange, gun control, same-sex marriage and abortion.

The 23rd Amendment is a reminder that support can be rallied for greater democracy for the district. And yet, in our polarized political climate, the powerful argument for voting representation in Congress seems perpetually stymied.

In related news, advocacy group DC Vote is hosting a lobby day today on the Hill, making the rounds to ask senators to not include restrictions on the use of local funds for abortions and needle-exchange programs inserted into the federal budget by House Republicans. They’re also asking that the District’s budget be separated out from the federal budget, so that city agencies can continue operating in the event of a federal shutdown, which seems more and more likely every day.

So here’s to you, 23rd Amendment, for granting District residents a small sliver of the basic rights enjoyed by all Americans. It’s sad to think that we’d be celebrating such a historical occasion, but in the grand scheme of the centuries-old struggle for equality, we need to find victories wherever and whenever they appear.