The following is a letter I wrote to SCOTUS in support of defeating DOMA. I'm sharing it with you because I believe the content touches on a lot of of the areas we have discussed.
JUSTICES OF THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT
In ordaining the Constitution of the United States, WE THE PEOPLE agree to ensure “the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Prosperity.”
Before the eyes of the world, at approximately 12:30 A.M., New Year’s Day 2013, my partner of 35 years and I became a legally married couple in the state of Maryland. This would not be news worthy but for the fact we are a same sex couple. As a relatively closeted gay man, for me this was a huge soul searching undertaking. Oh, I am not naive enough to think that many already came to their own conclusion about my sexuality. When my partner informed me we were given the opportunity to marry on New Year’s Day and that the ceremony would be performed by the Mayor and seen around the world, I had to really come to terms with the gravity of this moment. Since Maryland passed the Marriage Equality Act on ballot in November 2012, I knew that we would marry to protect each other, but I envisioned a simple “I Do” at the clerk’s office. But after a while I began to see how significant and monumental this moment was not just for Jim and me but for all members of the LGBT Community everywhere. To stand up to injustice and embrace what should have been our civil right. I was reminded of the Book of Esther and how risking her own life, had to “come out” to her King that she was a Jew in order to save her people from mass murder. “Perhaps it was for this time I was born.” But the story can’t end there. Until couples are free to marry in all states and are recognized to have the same freedoms, benefits and protections under Federal government, we shall remain a subordinate class. A position we have refused to accept.
The contemplation of the possibility of the Justices upholding the Defense of Marriage Act weighs heavy upon my heart. I have no hatred or malice toward my heterosexual brothers and sisters and yet some within this group would have you believe that the union of same sex couples in some way threatens the establishment of marriage between a man and a woman. The divorce rate among heterosexual couples is evidence that men and women everywhere have done their level best to destroy the sanctity of marriage without the aid of same sex couples. And still I do not deny their right to marry. The Defense of Marriage Act in its very title is offensive and prejudice toward a minority class of citizens equally protected by the Constitution. Gay men and women have laid down their lives to protect this Constitution. They still today proudly stand beside their heterosexual peers, only to be told we are not worthy of the same rights and freedoms established by the Constitution.
Who among you will be our Thaddeus Stevens? Who will fight for justice for a minority class? Who will stand up for equality? Who will recognize and expose The Defense of Marriage Act as an amendment that would prejudice a minority class?
I appeal to you, to do the right thing, to uphold equality and fairness, to ensure that the Blessings of Liberty are equal to all.
Sincerely,
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