We know that the best way to convince people to support marriage equality for same-sex couples is by sharing the personal stories of those who are affected by the inability to marry. No talking points will ever be as effective or as powerful as your own voice and experience.
Your story, photo, or video will only be used with your explicit permission. If you are willing to have your story displayed on this website, you can provide permission to do so when you submit your story. Occasionally, we may want to use your story for another public education purpose, like in an educational postcard to be mailed to Mainers, in a magazine article, or a letter to the editor. We will ALWAYS contact you to ask for your permission to use your story for any specific purpose.
Anyone and everyone! It doesn’t matter if you are gay or not, male or female, young or old; Mainers that are still undecided about marriage equality need to hear why marriage is important to you, your friends, and your family.
We need to hear from all Mainers, regardless of their sexual orientation. Marriage is important to everybody, whether you are gay, lesbian, or an ally, and the people of Maine need to hear from their friends and neighbors why it is important to everyone to have marriage equality.
Stories should be approximately 500 words or less.
A compelling story will include your personal experiences to share why marriage equality is important to you, your friends, and/or your family.
We'd like to hear about you and the ways that you or those close to you have been impacted by the inability to marry.
Some ideas to get you started (Please do not feel obligated to address all of these questions.):
- What does marriage mean to you and your family?
- What challenges have you and/or your gay and lesbian loved ones faced because you/they can’t get married?
- When and how did you and your spouse or partner meet? Tell us about your partner and why you want to marry him or her. What are some of the best times you’ve shared? What are some of the biggest obstacles you have faced together?
- Tell us about your children.
- If you are the parent of a gay or lesbian child, or the child of a same-sex couple, what would it mean to you if your child/parents could legally marry?
- How are you and your spouse or partner involved in your community (Volunteer activities, etc.)?
- Loving, committed same-sex couples need and deserve all the protections that come with being married; they are our neighbors.
- Marriage tells the community that two people are committed to each other and are a family in a way that no other word can. Same-sex couples need this as much as opposite-sex couples do.
- Children of same-sex couples are harmed when their parents do not receive all the protections of marriage.
- The thousands of same-sex couples living in Maine already share many of the same commitments, obligations, family responsibilities, and everyday concerns that opposite-sex, married couples face.
If you are able to provide one, a photo can enrich and really bring a face to your story. High quality photos of you and your family in .jpeg format are highly encouraged.
Additionally, some people like to submit their story in the form of a video. On the “Submit Your Story” page, you are welcome to upload a video directly from YouTube or upload a home video directly to our server.
