Ballot Measures and Constitutional Amendments banning same-sex marriage are simply systematic prejudice – and no matter what they dictate, they won’t make same-sex parents and children disappear. Regardless of the laws, children will continue to be raised in same-sex families, whether protected by the privileges granted by marriage or not. And as long as society condones treating same-sex families as less than equal to heterosexual families, we will continue to have children of same-sex families living with the same feelings of loneliness and resentment as I did, for a society of people who exiled, ignored and discriminated against them again and again. Finally, I resent being called a social experiment because what I’ve become is a warrior. And although it has been a difficult journey, I would do it all over again. Because of my experience with my family and these difficulties we’ve faced, I have learned how to navigate this diverse and often challenging world and to meet it with strength and an open mind.
Our struggle doesn’t end when and if we get the protections of marriage under the guise of a “Civil Union.” We will not stand to be second-class citizens because separate is not and will never be equal. We refuse to settle for less than absolute equality. Until then, I will continue to fight for the protections of the children whose voices are largely absent from this debate with the hopes that one day, more children with lesbian and gay parents will step forward and make their voices heard, and that we will be able to raise children in loving households, in a legally recognized relationship, with the protections granted to families that are much like our own.
