y2gender

Today is “Write to Marry Day". My partner and I have been living together for 12 years this week. I’m non-op M2F transgender/androgyne and my partner is a woman. I haven’t changed my legal documentation, nor can I do so without undergoing surgery, thus I am still legally male. Because of our respective legal sexes, we could waltz into city hall anytime, get a marriage license and get married. But that feels hypocritical to us, and so we haven’t gotten married, nor will we legally marry until there is full marriage equality for all couples of any gender combination.

We live in New Hampshire, which legalized same sex civil unions in Jan 2008. We worked with the NH Freedom to Marry group to achieve this, and while we’re happy that our state has passed this legislation, a civil union still doesn’t offer all the same rights of a marriage. If we were to marry in NH, and then I legally changed my sex, our marriage would become illegal, as happens across the country for many couples containing a transperson. We could get a civil union in our state, however this doesn’t grant us the 1000+ benefits at the federal level. So we’re waiting.

Currently on the ballot in California is Prop 8, which if passed would deny same sex couples the right to marry which had recently been passed by the state’s courts. A fierce battle has ensued, if Yes on 8 were to win, this could negatively affect other Freedom to Marry campaigns throughout the USA. The opposition has spent a considerable amount of money, so the campaign for No On Prop 8 needs financial support to advertise in print, radio and TV. A special bloggers’ Write to Marry page has been set up at Act Blue for contributions http://www.actblue.com/page/wtm.

If you vote in California: Don’t Stop at the Top! http://dontstopatthetop.org/. Propositions are at the bottom of the ballot. Finally, if you can volunteer in California, No On 8 needs volunteers to help with Get Out The Vote efforts throughout the state. To volunteer, visit http://www.noonprop8.com/action/netroots-gotv.

We look forward to the day in which couples of any gender can celebrate their unions with full equality. Please help No On Prop 8!