Pass The Donation Plate

Hello friends ...

I’ve got some good news and some bad news … let’s go good, first.

On October 17, 2014, after fourteen years together, Carlos and I will be getting married in Washington State. It’s a big deal, and a long time coming, but there is bad news …

When we return to South Carolina our marriage will not be recognized in our home state, or in thirty-one other states around the nation, but our fight, right now, is in South Carolina.

Carlos and I recently helped form The Will of the People Fund, a grass roots group with a singular focus on South Carolina’s marriage equality fight. The catalyst for our organization is the pending lawsuit by Katie Bradacs and Tracie Goodwin-Bradacs against the State of South Carolina in Federal District Court. Their suit seeks an order requiring the state to recognize their legal marriage in Washington, DC in 2012.

Our mission is both pure and simple: To raise funds for non-attorney costs, such as filing fees, legal brief writings, clerical work, photocopying and binding, etc, in support of that suit and future marriage equality litigation in our state. No attorney fees will be paid from this fund as the attorneys in the current suit, Carrie Warner and John Nichols, are donating their time.

So, while we are happy to finally get married, and have our marriage recognized by the federal government, we still wish to be seen as a married couple here at home, which is why I am writing to you now.

For money. Yikes! 

I was thinking that, since Carlos and I have been together for these many years, we really don’t need any wedding gifts; we have the blenders and the sheets and the carving sets. What we don’t have, and could really use, is recognition that we are a married couple in South Carolina.

And to that end, we’re asking our friends, family and blog followers to consider being a part of history by supporting The Will of the People Fund with a generous, tax deductible, contribution. The Will of the People Fund has little to no overhead since all of our work is being done by volunteers; nearly 100% of the money raised will be used for filing fees, legal brief writings, and clerical work in the ongoing fight for marriage equality in SC.

If you’d like to donate, please mail a check, made payable to The Will of the People Fund to:

The Will of the People Fund

P.O. Box 5006

Columbia, SC, 29250

Carlos and I would consider that the greatest wedding present ever! And please let us know, on the check, that the donation is given in our names because we'd like to acknowledge you, and thankyouthankyouthankyou!

Monday Bits ... And A Heartfelt Thanks To The Dog's Mother

Today, Carlos and I are off to Raleigh, North Carolina because we, and by we, I mean he — and a plus one, which would be me — have been invited to attend a cocktail party given by the Mexican Consulate in honor of Hispanic History Month.

Though his job Carlos met, and worked with, several members of the consulate and helped get some of the undocumented immigrants in South Carolina started on the path to citizenship.

And so, as sweet and as nice as I am, I have ordered Carlos to work the room tonight and secure himself a job with the Mexican Consulate … somewhere … anywhere. Europe, America, I don’t care.

He asked what I might be doing if he was offered, and accepted, a job with the consulate, and I politely responded that I would play the part of consulate wife, and have lunches with other consulate wives and have an affair with our pool boy.

Duh.

Oh ... and I'll be back Wednesday.

We are now just a little more than a month from Carlos and me getting married. We're going to keep it simple, with a couple of witnesses — my father being one — and a courthouse wedding. But I think we'll have some sort of reception after we get back home to celebrate with friends.

A new person started working with me this week, and was standing by my side when I was speaking to a friend of mine who was asking about the wedding. My friend and I talked about marriage and rings and all that jazz, and then this new co-worker chimed in that she was getting married, too, but that she wasn't a girly-girl so she wasn't into all the gowns and hoo-haw of a fancy wedding.

She asked me, Is your fiancée a girly girl?

I replied, Well, sometimes he is, and sometimes he isn't.

Asked and answered I guess.

Also on the news of wedding and dame-sex marriage, The Will of the People Fund will be marching in SC Pride this weekend in Columbia, so Carlos and I have our walking shoes lined up. We'll also have a tent at the festival and will be raising money for the lawsuit filed by Katie Bradacs and her wife Tracie Goodwin-Bradacs to have South Carolina recognize their marriage.

And so, on that note, I'll once again remind you all that The Will of the People Fund was created by fifteen gay men and women — including Carlos and myself, and some of our closest, gayest friends — to raise money for the non-attorney costs of the Bradacs lawsuit.

If you'd like to donate toward making South Carolina a marriage equality state, you can mail a tax-deductible donation, check payable to The Will of the People Fund, to:

The Will of the People Fund

P.O. Box 5006

Columbia, SC, 29250

And, on that note, a special thank you, and shout out to, The Dog's Mother, for the donation she and her husband, The Engineer,  sent, in Carlos' and my name, to the Will of the People Fund.

A lovely surprise, a grand gesture, a great gift.

ThankyouThankyouThankyou!