Thank the Courageous Plaintiffs Who Made History
After California passed the devastating Prop 8 making same-sex marriage illegal, four brave Californians - Kristin Perry & Sandy Stier, and Paul Katami & Jeff Zarrillo - came forward to challenge the discriminatory legislation. After Edith Windsor lost the love of her life, and was forced to deal with hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes because her government didn't recognize their marriage, she challenged the Defense of Marriage Act.
Today, their cases have changed the course of history for every gay and lesbian couple in this country. Please thank these amazing plaintiffs.
Before they were plaintiffs, Kristin, Sandy, Paul, Jeff and Edith were just people. They happened to love someone of the same gender, and because of that their government legally denied them rights enjoyed by any heterosexual couple.
They opened up their lives, their families' lives and their relationships to public scrutiny and homophobic hatred so that the future of gay and lesbian Americans would be better.
Today, love won. Tell the plaintiffs of these historic cases: thank you for standing for love.
To Kristin, Sandy, Paul, Jeff and Edith:
I want to thank you for making immense sacrifices to have your cases heard before the Supreme Court. By allowing your relationships to stand as the models of gay and lesbian marriages, you have changed the course of history for all of us.
[Your comments here]
Today, love won because of you. All of us who stand for love and stand for equality thank you.
Sincerely,
[Your name here]
