Another Open Letter to President-Elect Obama and Vice President-Elect Biden

by J.E. Remy

On November 6th, I wrote to express my appreciation for President-Elect Obama and Vice President-Elect Biden’s plan to bring about change. I am pleased to see the civil rights agenda has been expanded to include support for the LGBT community. It is exciting to see your support for full civil unions and the welfare of all citizens, while opposing unfair policies and the constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.

Providing such rights for couples is a welcome start, and can begin to turn around many of the discriminatory laws and practices currently plaguing the LGBT community. However, even if this goal is met, there will continue to be separate-but-equal treatment of same-sex couples. Full civil unions may provide legal rights and privileges equal to marriage, but a system segregated to ensure noted differences between heterosexual and homosexual partnerships will continue to assign same sex-couples to a second-class status.

Equal marriage for all citizens, no matter their sexual orientation, is the only way to ensure complete equality. As I mentioned in my previous letter, there is no reason a civil agreement needs to suffer from the marginalizing repression of religious ceremony. Separate church and state, and legalize same-sex marriage.

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