Hearing back from my Family
Yesterday I posted an email I sent my family members asking for their support should a ballot measure be made to define marriage as being between 1 man and 1 woman only in the State Constitution in November. I made it Friends Only but I've gone ahead an opened it up today.
ericsandgo asked in a comment on that post what position my family members held before I sent the email. Well, the feedback I'd gotten from my Grandparents and from my Uncle (and the general vibe I picked up) was that they held to the idea that marriage was a religious institution and that as such it was meant to be between a man and a woman (with flimsy quotes to back it up). They were quick to say that they agreed 100% with civil unions and honestly, at the time, I was fine with that (this was right after Canada had legalized gay marriage and the Republicans were putting the Fear Campaign (Gays and Terrorists - Just Say No!) wheels into motion. At the time I felt it was too soon for America to be making a decision on. Looking back I realized I was probably going to always think it was too soon. I'm glad now that it was put out there - forcing people to acknowledge us.
Now, I haven't heard back from my Grandparents on the email. Unfortunately I don't have their new email address. Their old one bounced - they just moved to a new city so I'm sure they're in the process of getting all their access set (they had been using an ISP-based address). Anyhow, what I did hear back was pretty damn cool. I made the error of reading it in a meeting yesterday and I teared up a little.
From my Aunt Liz:
It's a done deal for me. I'll vote to support you. Love, A. Liz
From Melinda (my Dad's wife) and my Dad:
When I saw the Google news story about the ruling and told your dad, he said, "Hooray!" I concur. It's about time. A large portion of the congregation (and the priest) of our new church, Grace, belongs to Integrity, the Episcopal gay/lesbian/bi/transgender support organization. Apparently the LDS church is spending considerable sums of money to support the proposed amendment. (No real surprise that the assemblyman is from Fresno. The Central Valley is the Land of Little Minds.)
Love from the two of us
So that's encouraging (and my apologies to the members of the Y Clan who have lived (or are living) in the Central Valley). I know y'all don't have little minds :-)
I like to think that the rest of my family will be supportive in the same way. I mean, I've been out now for over a decade. I'd hope they'd want all the same freedoms for me that they have for themselves. Just getting these two emails was enough to make me really feel good. It's awesome to know they've got my back.
ericsandgo asked in a comment on that post what position my family members held before I sent the email. Well, the feedback I'd gotten from my Grandparents and from my Uncle (and the general vibe I picked up) was that they held to the idea that marriage was a religious institution and that as such it was meant to be between a man and a woman (with flimsy quotes to back it up). They were quick to say that they agreed 100% with civil unions and honestly, at the time, I was fine with that (this was right after Canada had legalized gay marriage and the Republicans were putting the Fear Campaign (Gays and Terrorists - Just Say No!) wheels into motion. At the time I felt it was too soon for America to be making a decision on. Looking back I realized I was probably going to always think it was too soon. I'm glad now that it was put out there - forcing people to acknowledge us.
Now, I haven't heard back from my Grandparents on the email. Unfortunately I don't have their new email address. Their old one bounced - they just moved to a new city so I'm sure they're in the process of getting all their access set (they had been using an ISP-based address). Anyhow, what I did hear back was pretty damn cool. I made the error of reading it in a meeting yesterday and I teared up a little.
From my Aunt Liz:
It's a done deal for me. I'll vote to support you. Love, A. Liz
From Melinda (my Dad's wife) and my Dad:
When I saw the Google news story about the ruling and told your dad, he said, "Hooray!" I concur. It's about time. A large portion of the congregation (and the priest) of our new church, Grace, belongs to Integrity, the Episcopal gay/lesbian/bi/transgender support organization. Apparently the LDS church is spending considerable sums of money to support the proposed amendment. (No real surprise that the assemblyman is from Fresno. The Central Valley is the Land of Little Minds.)
Love from the two of us
So that's encouraging (and my apologies to the members of the Y Clan who have lived (or are living) in the Central Valley). I know y'all don't have little minds :-)
I like to think that the rest of my family will be supportive in the same way. I mean, I've been out now for over a decade. I'd hope they'd want all the same freedoms for me that they have for themselves. Just getting these two emails was enough to make me really feel good. It's awesome to know they've got my back.