Marriage Matters: Sharing Our Stories
Barry Clayton and Michael Garaza have been together for ten years. They love to travel, host parties, and hang out with their family and friends.
Barry and Michael understand that sharing our stories and showing our faces helps the rest of America identify with our need to hold ourselves accountable to the promise of liberty, fairness and equality for all. "I know that we have changed the opinion of some heterosexuals who had definite skewed ideas of what it means to be gay," Barry said in response to a question from the Story Center. Michael added, "We hope that we can help to show others that marriage equality is nothing to be afraid of, and that promoting long term committed, stable relationships for everyone is in the best interest for our society."
There is no better way to communicate who we are and the depths of our commitment to our partners and our families than by telling the truth of our lives. Our stories help us communicate, in concrete ways, how the denial of marriage harms families.
Read through other families' stories here:
- Carmen and Anisia Machado
- Denise and Treeva Liggett-Creek
- Shelley Hayes and Mary Horvath
- Terri Miller and Cindy Simms
- Mark McKinney and Steve Lepre
- Jennifer Lin and Jeanne Fong
- Lori and Cin Diné
- Gita Deane and Lisa Polyak
- Nigel Simon and Alvin Williams
- Jo Rabb and Takia Foskey
- Lisa Laurey and Toni Williamson
- Richard Phelps and Mitchell Wood
- Desiree Leone and Carolee Stoll
- Barry Clayton and Michael Garaza
- Stephanie Furness and Shannon Kearns
- Charles Blackburn and Glen Dehn
- Delia Meraz and Persephone Gonzalez
- Amorie Robinson and Hattie Alexander-Robinson
Why Marriage Matters America, Equality, and Gay People's Right to Marry
By Evan Wolfson
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Read families’ stories about how marriage discrimination affects everyday life. These stories communicate, in concrete ways, how the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage hurts families and helps no one.
Start in The Marriage Basics to get short answers to your big questions about the freedom to marry, and learn more about the protections and responsibilities of marriage, the historical background for this civil rights movement, why separate is not equal, and so much more.
