My Rights...

My parents keep trying to get me to move back to Michigan and be near them, but over many months I have been shinning a little light on what Michigan holds for two gay people and their (soon to be) adopted child. Many people don’t seem to understand that the only places we fill comfortable in is in the North East. In Vermont, we have a civil union (as close as we can get to a marriage). This civil union allows for certain things in Vermont, but not in other parts of the country. As of this moment there are only a handful of states that will allow Mark and myself to be who we are.

Vermont allows us to have a civil union. Since 2004, Massachusetts allowed same sex people to marry, but that is in question now. The lawmakers are trying to overturn a law that allowed more than 8,000 people to get married. Imagine if one day all the married people who have been paying taxes and working for a living, caring for their children or spouses, or planning on getting married were told that what they have is no longer legal. It amazes me that people are so caught up in the “gay” thing that they can’t see good or bad any longer.

We are supposed to be the most advanced country in the world (which I feel is falling slowly), but lets look at other countries that have not fallen of the face of the Earth or exploded because gay people have rights. Here is a list of countries/states currently allowing same-sex registered partnerships / civil unions.

• Denmark, 1989.
• Norway, 1996.
• Sweden, 1996.
• Iceland, 1996.
• France, 1999.
• Vermont, USA, 2000.
• Germany, 2001.
• Finland, 2002.
• Luxembourg, 2004.
• New Zealand, 2004.
• Connecticut, USA, 2005.
• Britain, 2005.


Here is a list of countries/states that allow same-sex marriage – and again they have not fallen into ruin.

• The Netherlands, 2001.
• Belgium, 2003.
• Massachusetts, USA, 2004.
• Canada, 2005.
• Spain, 2005.
• Peru, 2006


So now Mark and I are planning on bringing a baby into our lives. We have so much love to give and the Christian Right (who claim love) seem to have so much hate. What are we doing wrong? Nothing! We are living our lives for each other and making the best of what we have. Why can’t we have the same right that all committed people have?

Did you know when Mark and I adopt in Vermont we are both on the birth certificate, but not all states recognize this “official” form. We were told that if we travel with our child through any states that we should have our paperwork with us. In the mind of most people from the conservative states, why would two men be traveling with a child? They could detain us and possibly take the child away. Here is a taste from Oklahoma: “In a federal lawsuit, Lambda Legal sought to overturn an Oklahoma law so extreme that it left children adopted by same-sex couples in other states orphans in the eyes of the law when the families are in the state of Oklahoma.” This is what we are up against.