Archive for activism
Stick a Finger in Your Eye and Break Your Heart All Over Again
Over a year ago, Amy and I got legally married in Massachusetts. We decided to change our last names - something that normally costs $165 to do without a marriage certificate. In the interim, we’ve changed our names on driver’s licenses, social security cards, and all sorts of other legal documentation without any fuss whatsoever. Imagine my surprise, then, when I find out that the US Passport Agency won’t accept our marriage license as legal proof of name change.
Yeah, you read that right. We got our social security cards changed with no problems whatsoever, but the US Passport Agency won’t recognize a legal document from the state of Massachusetts (question 2). Instead, they insist upon a court order - of course only for same-sex couples. So once again, the queers have to pay f%&#ing more money than non-queers to do something as simple as change our name.
Lesbian name change on passport:
- $65 marriage license fee (issued over a year ago)
- $58 fee for certified, expedited birth certificate (4-6 weeks)
- $165 fee for probate court hearing to give me a legal document that says the same thing as my marriage license (8 week process)
- $127 fee for expedited passport service (3 weeks)
- Total: $415 and 15-17 weeks
Straight person name change on passport:
- $65 marriage license fee (paid whenever)
- $67 fee for passport service (10-12 weeks)
- Total: $132 and 10-12 weeks
The difference:
- $283 and 3-7 weeks, depending
Now tell me that this will all be done by the time I go out of the country in mid-February. That’s 27 weeks from now. And then realize that there are 2 of us who need to do this process. Just lovely.
Why the hell do (some) people hate us so much? I just don’t get it.
David Linsky: My Awesome State Representative
I just received the following email from my state representative, David Linksy. He’s awesome!
Dear Ms. Brooks,
Thank you for your recent correspondence relative to gay marriage and the Constitutional Convention.
As you may know, the Constitutional Convention has been postponed until June 14th. My record on this issue has been consistent and remains unchanged, and I am happy to be able to express my agreement with you on this matter. For reasons that I have made clear on my over twenty votes and two political campaigns, I believe that civil marriage is a right that should be available to all citizens, and I plan to vote accordingly. In the three years that same-sex marriage has been legal in Massachusetts, over 8500 couples have enjoyed the rights of marriage who could not do so previously. Their families and their lives have been improved as a result of that marriage. No one else’s marriage has been affected in a negative way. I am grateful for your support for my position on this issue. I am very hopeful that this matter will soon be laid aside, allowing us all to turn our focus to the important issues that truly impact all Commonwealth residents: Health care, education, and public safety.
Once again, thank you for taking the time to contact me. Please do not hesitate to do so again in the future if I can be of assistance to you. It is a pleasure to serve you in the state Legislature.
Sincerely,
David P. Linsky
State Representative
Fifth Middlesex District
Thank you, Rep. Linsky. Your continued support in this means so very much to me.
The constitutional convention is in two days! If you live in MA and haven’t done so yet, contact your state representatives and state senators and remind them that voting on civil rights isn’t a good idea. Remind them that if this gets put onto the general ballot, for the next 2 years nothing will get done in this state because it will be a media circus (because - you know - the presidential election isn’t crazy enough!) Remind them that they represent over 8500 couples whose lives have been made better because we can enjoy the benefits of civil marriage, and if they vote to put this on the ballot, that’s a minimum of 17,000 adults (and untold numbers of children) whose lives will all of a sudden be made a whole lot worse.
Letter to MA Senator Scott P. Brown
Yesterday, the MA Legislature voted 62-134 to advance a constitutional amendment to the 2008 ballot which would essentially redefine marriage in the state to opposite-sex couples. How delightful for me to find that my state senator, Scott P. Brown, was one of those 62 (they only needed 25% of the Congress to advance the measure).
I’ve been thinking on this since I heard the news yesterday and burst into tears. While the letter I wrote to Senator Brown, copied below, isn’t an outstanding piece of writing, it is from my heart. If you’re from MA, check to see if your elected representatives voted to advance the measure. And then contact them to either thank them for voting to keep constitutional rights for all or admonish them for choosing division and the creation of second-class citizens in this state.
Dear Senator Brown,
As a woman married to another woman who lives in your district, I am disappointed and angry that you voted with 61 others yesterday to limit my civil rights. Yes, YOU voted to turn your back on your constituents and to remove Constitutional rights that gays and lesbians currently enjoy. YOU personally are responsible if this ends up going on the ballot. I hope you are proud of yourself, for telling me, in essence, that as a citizen, my rights do not matter to you. Trust me when I say that you are not fit for office if you have that attitude about your constituents.
A year ago I was thrilled to be moving to Massachusetts, the only state in the nation at the time that seemed to give a hoot about the civil rights of gays and lesbians. Today, less than 12 months later, I realize that my enthusiasm does not extend to the 62 of YOU. You have dampened my joy in living my life here, with my wife, in the house we purchased in your district. Does it feel good knowing that you personally are responsible for the fact that I feel more unwelcome in this state than I ever did in Pennsylvania, home of Rick “man-on-dog” Santorum?
I rarely get this mad, and have never resorted to using profanity towards an elected official before in a letter. But your vote yesterday deserves swear words, for it was a profane vote. I end this with an angry f*** you, Senator Brown.
On the other hand, my representative, David Linsky, was one of the 134 who voted against advancing the amendment. He’s getting a letter too, of thanks and gratitude.
Sigh. The battle continues, here and everywhere (except the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Canada, and South Africa.)
