MassEquality needs stories from gay couples and straight allies

[Ian David]

Your story can make the difference!
www.MassEquality.org/May17/share/

August 19th is the deadline to participate in a very important undertaking: the MassEquality “One Year of Marriage Equality” testimony book.

We want to use August 24th – the date of the next constitutional convention—as an opportunity to share with legislators the stories of married couples, their families, friends and all supporters of marriage equality (the discriminatory amendment will not be considered at this convention).

You have a unique story to share with our lawmakers. You have a personal story to share about why marriage equality matters to you. In our experience, nothing has been more effective in getting legislators to rethink their positions than hearing from same-sex couples and supporters of marriage equality about what a difference marriage has made in their lives. You have lived through this momentous time and your legislators need to know how your life has changed and why we can not go back.

MassEquality is compiling a book of personal stories from same-sex couples, their parents, children, clergy, friends, and allies that we will put together and hand-deliver to legislators. It will help them appreciate and recognize the struggles and challenges that committed gay and lesbian couples have faced in the past, the importance of marriage equality in so many different ways, and the myriad of reasons why people from all walks of life support equal marriage rights.

Date: Thu, 11 Aug 2005
From: MassEquality Update Team [e-mail]

We need YOU to participate. Would you please write a short personal testimonial explaining why you support marriage equality and what the first year of marriage equality has meant for you? Gay or non-gay, young or old, everybody has a story to tell.

Submit your story by August 19th, along with up to three high-resolution digital photos through our website by visiting www.MassEquality.org/May17/share/ or emailing [e-mail].

If you have any questions, please contact field organizer Jon Marker: [e-mail] or 617-878-2313.

Thank you,

Marc Solomon
Political Director

P.S. Please ask a few friends to write their stories as well. We especially could use stories from non-gay allies, clergy, and family members of gays and lesbians who have married.

[Ian David]

1. Okay, so here's my story that I shared. I hope you send them your stories

I've edited and redacted stuff for privacy..

For almost two years, I worked for "Ira" at The Xyz in Boston.

And then, within the space of about four months, my mother had congestive heart failure, my grandmother died, and I was diagnosed with cancer.

I spoke to Ira and told him I was having another operation in a week, and my mother was having an operation the week after that.

I asked Ira if I could take an unpaid medical leave for a month to protect and preserve my family and my health.

Ira, Chaplain of the City of Xville, champion for the preservation and protection of the family, member of The Massachusetts Family Institute, said "No."

He told me that in this economy he could replace me quickly for less money.

And that is precisely what he did. There was an ad for my position in The Boston Metro the next day.

I was fortunate in that I was in a "traditional" marriage-- with a woman who had medical insurance.

If I'd been a gay man with a male partner, my two year old daughter and I would have been left without health coverage, just when we needed it most.

I had to divide my time traveling between my home in Boston and traveling to New York, where my mother spent the next month, comatose, on a respirator in intensive care.

During that time, I had to make some very hard, very important decisions about my mother's care. If I had been her lesbian partner, and not her son, I might not have been given that right. I might not have even been allowed to visit.

In fact, as an ordained minister, I had more rights and privileges than any gay partner would have. Because I had a $15 card from Universal Life Church, I was allowed to visit in the post-operative recovery room-- where only doctors and clergy may visit. I was allowed (as a minister) to visit during any hours I wished. And there were even parking spots marked "clergy" that were reserved just for me.

It troubles me that that gay men and women are being denied basic human rights by the same people who not only take those rights for granted, but treat themselves to preferred parking spots at hospitals that tear loved ones apart every day.



The picture below is my mother, holding my daughter. It was the first time since her operation that my mother was strong enough to hold her granddaughter.