Although this may seem like I'm preaching to the converted, I'm continually surprised to find members of the queer community who are resistant to the idea. However, I believe that in providing my partner and myself the legal protection inherent in civil marriage, I am also building a more solid foundation for my daughter. This means approval and validation on a level that, as adults, we may claim we don't or shouldn't need, but can be critical for children who feel they are different. But then I remember how changeable and, ultimately, flexible the institution of marriage is. The legalization of interracial marriages has helped to create an eminently more accepting world for these couples and their children.
Marriage is a basic right provided for in the constitutions of both our state and our country.
When the law tells me that I cannot marry the person I love and intend to spend the rest of my life with, it is labeling me a second-class citizen. That makes my daughter the child of a second-class citizen. The last time I checked, there aren't supposed to be second-class citizens here anymore.