Alyssa Weaver and Michel McVicker: Participants in the WE DO Campaign who are requesting a marriage license at 3:45 p.m. on Tuesday, January 17, 2012 in Greenville, SC.
Mike and Alyssa met in Greenville, SC, over Christmas break of 2008. As predicted by a close mutual friend, there was an immediate spark. That week spent together serves as a snap shot of their relationship today – packed with adventure, hiking, biking, cooking, and of course dancing all night. While Mike completed graduate degree coursework in Montana, they managed to stoke a beautiful romance over long distance through letters, emails, text messages, mixed CDs, and very expensive cell phone packages. In May of 2009, Mike returned home and sealed Alyssa’s fate with a love song on the ukulele. They decided to make a go of it.
They live in a cute little bungalow in the Sans Souci neighborhood with their two dogs (Baby Girl and Penny) and their roommate Amanda [aka Patewan (yes that is a Star Wars reference)]. Alyssa is finishing her degree in nursing and she hopes to work in the ICU. Mike just completed an M.A. in Intercultural Youth and Family Development and is looking for a career that combines a background in mental health and HIV/AIDS with services for “at-risk” youth.
Their relationship has been intensely romantic despite their best efforts. But it hasn’t always been easy. Mike’s degree required a one year international internship that took place in American Samoa, a group of islands 6500 miles away from South Carolina. It was during that time apart that Alyssa received her breast cancer diagnosis at the age of 28. Mike returned home a month early to give love and support to Alyssa through her treatment. Through 16 weeks of chemotherapy, a double mastectomy, and now a second round of chemo, their relationship has become stronger thanks in part to their families and loved ones who have come together and formed a strong network of support for them as a couple.
Mike and Alyssa believe that gay couples should have the same right to form legal marriages as any other couple in the United States, and that they should not have to leave their homes to do so. While other states have same-sex marriage, South Carolina is our home. An amendment to the South Carolina Constitution banned same-sex couples from marriage because of a majority vote. Mike and Alyssa believe that it is wrong for a majority vote to determine the rights of another group of citizens. It is from this stance that they are participating in the We Do Campaign, to draw attention to the discrimination and injustice of marriage inequality.
– Alyssa Weaver and Michel McVicker
