A Letter to My Congressman

I wrote a letter to my congressman today, asking him to support the Respect for Marriage Act. Here is what I wrote:

Representative Price,

I am writing to ask that you support the Respect for Marriage Act, which would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act.

My partner and I are residents of NC. We were married in our church, United Church of Chapel Hill, in 2002. We serve the country in the U.S. Foreign Service and are currently posted to Washington, DC.

Passage of this law would mean that we would not be serving our country as second class citizens. Much like African Americans who served this country during World War II while lacking fundamental rights at home, we are keeping faith with our country in the hopes that one day, it will keep faith with us. But as it stands, states can use DOMA to not only not recognize a marriage legal in other states but to deny us the basic rights of visiting our partners while they are in the hospital or inheriting our own joint property should one of us die. DOMA means we, who are in a 10 year long committed marriage, are not entitled to more than 1,000 rights, priviledges and responsibilities afforded to those who marry on a whim simply because of who we love.

Please keep faith with us as we have with you and the country and support the Respect for Marriage Act.

Thank you


I encourage you to write your Congressman as well. You can find out where they stand here. Write them regardless of whether they are yes, no, or leaning in one direction or the other. Tell them you support fairness and equality. Tell them no American should be a second class citizen.