21 Same-Sex Couples Walk Into a Marriage Equality Campaign...

Earlier this year, the Washington, D.C. City Council voted to allow the District to recognize the marriages of same-sex couples who tie the knot in places like Maine, Massachusetts, Iowa, Vermont, Connecticut, and New Hampshire, where marriage equality is on the books.  This Fall, there will likely be an effort to enact marriage equality in Washington, D.C., and as part of that campaign, 21 same-sex couples are leading the way, using the power of storytelling to convey just how important the right to marriage is for gay and lesbian couples.

The storytelling campaign is part of an effort by D.C. for Marriage, who recently called for same-sex couples to come forward and tell their story.  These stories, so goes the thinking, are the most powerful weapon same-sex marriage advocates have in showing how personal the marriage equality struggle is for gay and lesbian couples deprived the rights of civil marriage.  Here's what Michael Crawford, President of D.C. for Marriage, told the Washington Blade:

The real focus is on enabling couples to share stories about why marriage is so important to gay and lesbian families. We know that the more people get to know us the more supportive they are of LGBT equality. The best way to do that is to have conversations with people about why marriage is so important.

It all comes back to conversations.  That's exactly the point that Stop8.org made this past year when the California Supreme Court ruled in favor of Prop 8 - that the only way to win marriage equality back in California would be to have conversations with our friends and neighbors, and show them in a very personal sense why marriage equality matters.  Looks like that's the same thinking in Washington, D.C., too.

Four of the couples participating in the storytelling campaign spoke to the Blade. Here's one of their tales, but do consider heading on over to the Blade's site to read the other three.  It's really a treat to read such honest, personal stories from people who will be directly affected by whether marriage equality does - or doesn't - become reality in D.C.

Sharon McGowan & Emily Hecht

Emily Hecht and Sharon McGowan, who are engaged, are now planning their wedding, which will be held in Boston on June 5, 2010.

Hecht said that while she and McGowan would probably have married regardless of whether D.C. recognized their marriage, “Marriage recognition is going to play a part in where we choose to live after getting married, in the long term.”

“Our choices will center around where we will be recognized as married,” she said. “D.C. is where we are currently, and New York is a long-term goal.”

Hecht and McGowan are lawyers and in the process of having documents drawn up to ensure that they don’t run into any problems having their union recognized in other states.

“We’re exploring all the other legal documents we’ll need to draft, since we recognize there will be other states that won’t recognize our marriage,” McGowan said.

Hecht said that the word “marriage” is important, though, and she plans to talk about that during the campaign.

“When Sharon and I talked about [how] we were going to register as domestic partners in the District, I thought to myself, ‘How am I going to explain that to my family? What does it mean?’” she said.

“When we decided we were going to marry in Boston — though we got engaged before the law passed, thinking it would happen — it was a much easier conversation to have. I called my mom, said that we got engaged and were getting married. That word meant something to her. She knew what it was.”

Yup, it's these types of stories that are going to make the difference.