Amy and Luz: Participants in the WE DO Campaign who will request a license on Tuesday, October 11, 2011.
This is some of who we are: Luz and I are from the south (Luz from TN, Amy from WV) but we both moved to Chicago in the 1980s. We found each other at Grace Baptist Church around 1994, and were married there in 1997. I say “married” because that’s how we consider ourselves, legal or not. We had a church wedding in a United Methodist Church officiated by two ordained American Baptist ministers.
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We moved to Western NC in January of 2001, and have never looked back. Luz is a physician assistant in Sylva, and Amy is too many things to mention. We were never meant to have human children, so in the grand lesbian tradition, we have 5 cats and 2 dogs.
I don’t consider us activists. At best, we are (to quote radio host/comedian Frank DeCaro) “activish.” So when this campaign came along, for some reason I wanted to be a part of it. Perhaps it is because when NC politicians recently decided that it would be a good idea for “the people” to vote on our civil rights, I got out a map and started looking for where we could move. It seems utterly ridiculous that where we live can determine our legal status as a couple. But like so many people, we are concerned for the future. Of course we have all our paperwork in place, but I know that ultimately it may not be enough.
So we do this selfishly, because we really want to be married to one another. But doing it publicly is our contribution to the fight for justice and legal equality for all GLBTQ people in our state and across the country. I know we are not alone in this fight, for I know God is with us.
– Amy and Luz
