Your Stories

"Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed." -- Martin Luther King Jr.

Max - Hospital denied his partner of 25 years access to visit him in the hospital.

Shriece - In a committed relationship for more than 5 years.

Tim -  Burned out of house and home, shunned by his family.

Therese - Found mother's name on the website, mother thought she was signing an amendment in Support of Gay Marriage

B.A. - Found sister's name, sister says she did not sign this hateful thing.

We want to fill these pages with your stories. This isn't a fight of just a few, it's a fight of hundreds of thousands of Floridians and millions of Americans, nationwide. Here's your chance to be heard. Tell Your Story Do you support marriage equality? Then we want your stories to be heard, and invite you to tell us your story here. Regardless of your orientation, we want to hear from you. Please complete the form below. All stories will be reviewed by the stories editor before posting.

Max S.

I live in Texas, where a marriage amendment has already passed. My partner and I have been together for 26 years. About six months ago I was diagnosed with cancer and had to enter the hospital for surgery. There were complications from the surgery, and for awhile it looked like I might die. During this time my partner was not allowed to see me, and I was alone and frightened. (Cancer surgery does that.) But he was told that a family member might visit. My biological family, all devout Baptists, had no interest in visiting because I am gay. (I did, however, get a brief phone call.) But it shouldn't matter. My partner is the person I love. He is my family. How can people who call themselves Christians be so callous? Why do they hate us so much? Eventually I recovered from the surgery, and now my partner and I are hoping to leave Texas as soon as we retire. It won't be easy. We don't have a fortune to fall back on, like Mary Cheney. We're just ordinary guys, trying to live decent lives. I hope the good people of Florida make the right decision and vote no on this marriage amendment. It's too late for those of us in the Lone Star State. The person I've loved and shared my life with for a quarter century is a total stranger, in the eyes of Texas.

Shriece

I am a 34 yr old lesbian and have been in a committed relationship with my partner for 5 years. We are raising my 10 year old son and have a child on the way. It would make things so much easier if we were able to get married and have the same rights as other families.
 

Tim

I am a 45 year old bi-sexual male who lived a closeted life till meeting another man I cared for late in life. I had a small farm in North Carolina for ten years and keep a low profile until forced out by two family members who disapproved of my life. When my lifestyle became known, I had to find a new job, my livestock where killed, my home burn to the ground, what was left was stolen, and my friends and family turn their back on me. In that same year I lost my mother to cancer. I only hear from one or two of my family members every so often. I cared for my grand mother and mother till they pasted away; only to be forgotten by my family because I want to live a life outside the shadows and backstreets.....I too wanted someone to spend life my with. Thank God I have my lover and his family to turn to; not that it will replace the family and friends I've lost, or repair the damage to my life, but I might not have made it without that support. It's been six years now, I have returned to school and gotten two degrees, almost finishing my BFA degree. I'm not the man I was , both in good ways and bad, but I'm still fighting to be heard and loved.
 

Therese

So, this is fortunate and unfortunate for this site to come about. My loving partner came across the site this morning. Out of curiosity, I must have known, I asked her to put in my last name. Not shocked by the result I saw it. My own mother-full name- full address. I think the site is good and bad. Good that I won't do business with anyone on the site that I know, BAD that now I must acknowledge my parent. My parent that I have support so many times for many things and especially at her "church". A place I am not comfortable with but out of love I dare to support her. Now, I believe everyone has a right of their own freedom and should exercise that belief. Will it hurt many people of many life styles, of course it will. My thoughts this morning though have taken some kind of turn. My own mother signing such a "thing" has made me realize what I think I always knew. She hates my nose ring, my tattoos, my hair, and so on. But she loves me "her daughter". What could she possible love about me when she hates so much of what I am. The signature proves it. I have tears falling from my eyes as I write this. I can't see. I am angry and I am hurt. I am confused if I am angry because she signed it, or because I have been there for her for so many things and how dare she do this. I remember me and my partner telling her how we went to great lengths to hire a lawyer and draw up legal papers in hopes that we are protected if one should pass. I remember explaining to her how we live in fear sometimes especially when traveling to homophobic states and how we become instant sisters. I remember sharing our concerns that any day someone could just hurt or kill us because of who we love. I remember asking her how she would like to live like that. I hold my head in my hand - tears dropping on my desk. I cry because I now know the truth and the truth hurts. I am saddened that I must confront her as my heart sinks deeper in my chest because it is a place I never wanted to go. You see I love my mother for who and what she is. because I know that what she is makes her so happy. I thought that someone's happiness is what we are all about. I won't change who I am or how I feel. I will by force have to change now my relationship with my own mother....unfortunately.

Our Follow Up with Therese

Thank you for sharing your story and your sorrow. Please know though, that it may be that your Mom truly did not understand what it was she was signing. I found folks who attended my wedding on the list, and I truly believe that they signed up 'at the back of the church' when they were walking out.

Use this time to talk with your Mom, and love her and let her love you. Give her the benefit of the doubt, always.

I wish you peace and love.

B.A.

I recently found out about this site while on a trip to DC. I was in a hotel room scrolling the names when one came up that hurt me dearly. It was the names of my sister and her husband. My sister and I are totally different in our politics but this was extremely hurtful. Even though we disagree on things we still love each other dearly. She is a republican conservative Baptist while I am a democratic liberal who has been in a same-sex relationship for the past six years. I confronted her today about the petition. She told me that she DID NOT sign this petition. She doesn't agree with me on a lot of things but neither she nor her husband signed this hateful thing. She told me that she receives emails from groups wanting her to sign but that she and her husband talked about it and decided that homosexuals having the same marital rights was in no way going to hurt them so why would they sign such a hurtful thing. I just wanted to write in because I believe that the list of names is incorrect. Someone needs to look into this, somebody is being deceitful! Here's to equal rights to all!!