A Letter to Governor Rell
The following letter to the editor of the Hartford Courant is being reprinted here, with the author’s permission.
The Honorable Governor Jodi Rell
State Capitol
210 Capitol Avenue
Hartford, CT 06106-1535
Dear Governor Rell:
My partner and I have been together nearly 16 years. Whether we actually do marry, or not, is not as important as being in a class of people considered worthy, acceptable for who we are, recognized eye to eye with nothing held back from us. Please try to understand our very real sense of being underclass so long as the civil right to marry the one person we love is denied.
Making “civil unions” available, even if attempts are made to extend all the marriage rights heterosexual couples enjoy, is not acceptable. Being required to eat in the kitchen rather than the dining room establishes two classes. Besides that, having access to civil unions would amount to a virtual dead end so far as legislation is concerned. Legislators and the public would be of the mind:
“We’ve taken care of them, now let’s get on with our work,” and it would take years to get equal marriage rights on the calendar again.
I am aware that you have spoken out against equal rights for same-sex couples. When you pledge allegiance to the US flag and uphold the US Constitution remember that quite a group of law-abiding and country-loving citizens are waiting--albeit impatiently--for a new day. It’s time to put away your fears and do what you can in the name of “liberty and justice for all.”
Sincerely, and with hope,
Dorothy J. Many
Windsor, CTThank you.
2 Comments
Leave a comment
I know Jeff. It makes no sense to me. I've elaborated a bit on this in an article comparing what Connecticut is about to do with civil unions and what has happened in Vermont since civil unions were enacted five years ago.
I've said it before, and I will say it again. I do not understand why this is even an issue in this day and age. How this country, founded on liberty and independence, can continue to withhold civil rights to any class of people is just beyond my comprehension.
This country suffered through the Civil War over the same issue, and still it has not been fully resolved. I know there can be drawn some differences between the plight of the blacks, and that of gays, but even those difference have the same base alloy of fear, and ignorance.
Humankind has a very long way to go before we can even hope to have the same ethical constitution as that found in the animal kingdom.