Protections That Only Marriage Can Provide
Because our relationship is not recognized, we cannot give the legal and social protections only marriage affords to our family.
On Thanksgiving Day, 1996, we had a beautiful and powerful commitment ceremony in front of family, friends, straight allies, and gay supporters. During that ceremony we shared an exchange of vows and promised to be a family—to support one another in times of ease and times of dis-ease. We have stayed together through the good times and tough times; w e have purchased homes together, and we own rental property together. Together we share the care of Ginny's mother, Inez, who lives with Alzheimer's disease, and together we are licensed foster parents. We are married in every sense of the word, except that our relationship is not legally recognized.
We have done what we can legally do to protect ourselves, including: securing Durable Power of Attorney and Medical Power of Attorney documents, creating living wills, designating each other as primary beneficiaries in life insurance and retirement contracts, and registering as Domestic Partners. Yet we still encounter challenges to our financial and medical security because we are not fully protected by a marriage license.
It's frightening to think that certain groups and individuals are trying to change this nation’s constitution in order to discriminate against families like ours. We pay Illinois taxes, support the Illinois economy, and live under the Illinois constitution. We should not have to cross over state or national borders to get married, and that’s why we’re working on marriage equality in our state. We want our relationship to be legally recognized because of the security, protection, and benefits that only marriage affords to people in committed relationships such as ours.