I have been with my partner for nearly 5 years now. Not only have we been refused the right to bind ourselves into the vow of marriage before God and our family and friends, but we have also been looked upon as second class citizens who feed into the "erosion" of what the United States was founded on.

Nearly 3 years ago, when this small-minded commonwealth passed into law a document banning us to pledge to one another, we were crushed.  And for the commonwealth to not even recognize a union preformed in another state is even more insult to injury.  To be allowed this one small thing, to be able to share my benefits with my partner, to feel like what most people call, a "normal relationship", would be a small step into our long battle