(Gays and lesbians have normal love stories. Someday folks will figure that out. - promoted by Charley on the MTA)
 Welcome to the 3rd Annual Blogging for LGBT Families Day, an online celebration of LGBT families of all shapes and sizes.
My partner* and I met 10 years ago on an organized hike in CT (two of the few women present in a sea of gay men :). It is a wonder that we ever met, as she got a wild hair and drove all the way from Boston to central CT on a whim. I was living in coastal CT at the time. It was fascination at first sight.
*WA State Registered Domestic Partners: We have 44% of the state-level rights & responsibilities that married people do, and ZERO at the federal level.
More after the fold. |
| It was fascination at first sight as we exchanged stories of our lives as researchers, she studying the intricate wonders of protein biochemistry and I the nutritional requirements of a molluscivorous fish. We both did a great job of monopolizing each other's time on that beautiful day. :D Four years later, we became a family. Today our family consists of us, a father, a mother, a step mother, two brothers and sister, two sisters in law and one sister-in-law in waiting, a brother-in-law, seven nieces and nephews, four step-bothers and their families, numerous cousins, aunts and uncles, and many enduring friends.
One of the happiest days of my life was going to meet my mother-in-law for the first time. She threw opened the front door, gave me a big hug and kiss, and simply said "Welcome to the family!" As we later learned, she was so happy and relieved that her daughter had finally found someone who really made her happy. I have been deliriously happy at getting to have a mom again, as mine passed away over 15 years ago.
I tell my personal story here today because I believe that the best way for LGBT people and their allies to achieve LGBT social parity and realize equal protection of the laws is to be out and just as loved by and vital to their families as anyone else.
What's your family look like?
h/t Pam Spaulding |
