A letter to 24 heroes

Text of an e-mail I sent today to the 24 New York State Senators who voted "Yes" on marriage equality for all New Yorkers:

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Honorable Senators:

I wanted to take a moment to write and thank you for the brave and historic stand you took on marriage equality this week.

I especially wish to thank Senator Duane for championing this cause. (pictured above, with his partner Nick)

I also want to extend my special thanks to those of you who spoke your hearts and your consciences on the Senate floor.

You are all heroes.

My partner of nearly 19 years and I chose to move to New York in 2004.  We moved here from Vermont, where we had been joined in a civil union.  It was a hard decision to make - to abandon the protections we felt we enjoyed under that contract, but I work for a company where we enjoy an equal footing with heterosexual married couples for insurance, medical, rights of inheritance, etc.  In fact, when we had our civil union, I was even given the unwritten but traditional "honeymoon week" of extra vacation by my manager. So, I felt secure in that respect.

We also thought that New York could not be far behind.  After all, New York has always been at the forefront on tough cultural issues.  Then marriage equality began to gain a foothold in other states.  We were
so hopeful.  So hopeful.

We had already been discussing plans to get married once the legislation had passed.  We realize that we could get married in a number of other states now, but we wanted to be married in our adopted home state. We love being New Yorkers and we love living here.  We wanted to be married here - to feel like fully realized citizens.

What we witnessed this week has shaken us.  Horribly.

We're still mourning.  We're still angry.  We're still disappointed.

But we're far from discouraged.

And you 24 senators are the reason we have not given up.

And for that, you have our undying gratitude.

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Here is the information if you'd like to thank our allies in the NYS Senate:

24 Senators who voted “yes” on marriage equality:

• Eric Adams (video) — (718) 284-4700, eadams@senate.state.ny.us
• Neil Breslin — (518) 455-2225, breslin@senate.state.ny.us
• Martin Malave Dilan — (718) 573-1726, dilan@senate.state.ny.us
• Tom Duane (video) — (212) 633-8052, duane@senate.state.ny.us
• Pedro Espada (video) — (718) 220-5480, espada@senate.state.ny.us
• Brian Foley — (631) 360-3356, bfoley@senate.state.ny.us
• Ruth Hassell-Thompson (video) — (718) 547-8854, hasselt@senate.state.ny.us
• Craig Johnson (video) — (516) 746-5923, johnson@senate.state.ny.us
• Jeffrey Klein (video) — (718) 822-2049, jdklein@senate.state.ny.us
• Liz Krueger (video) — (212) 490-9535, lkrueger@senate.state.ny.us
• Velmanette Montgomery (video) — (718) 643-6140, montgome@senate.state.ny.us
• Suzi Oppenheimer (video) — (914) 934-5250, oppenhei@senate.state.ny.us
• Kevin Parker — (718) 629-6401, parker@senate.state.ny.us
• Bill Perkins — (212) 222-7315, perkins@senate.state.ny.us
• John Sampson — (718) 649-7653, sampson@senate.state.ny.us
• Diane Savino (video) — (718) 727-9406, savino@senate.state.ny.us
• Eric Schneiderman (video) — (212) 544-0173, schneide@senate.state.ny.us
• Jose Serrano (video) — (212)-828-5829, serrano@senate.state.ny.us
• Malcolm Smith — (718) 528-4290, masmith@senate.state.ny.us
• Daniel Squadron (video) — (212) 298-5565, squadron@senate.state.ny.us
• Toby Ann Stavisky — (718) 445-0004, stavisky@senate.state.ny.us
• Andrea Stewart-Cousins — (914) 771-4190, scousins@senate.state.ny.us
• Antoine Thompson — (716) 854-8705, athompso@senate.state.ny.us
• David Valesky — (315) 478-8745, valesky@senate.state.ny.us