Leiana and Alison - Campaign for Southern Equality

Leiana and Alison applied for a marriage license in Hattiesburg, Mississippi in January 2013 as part of the WE DO Campaign.

You can read their story as told by Leiana below:

Prior to participating in the “WE DO” Campaign, my partner Alison and I never really considered ourselves activists per se. We both believe in equality but never thought there was anything we could do to change the way LGBT people are treated. We always felt that if we were good people, the people we encountered in our daily lives would hopefully accept us for who we are. After all, being gay is only one small aspect of our lives, it does not define us as individuals. That being said, certain experiences led us to getting involved with The Campaign for Southern Equality and The “WE DO” Campaign.

Next month I will celebrate the 10 year anniversary of meeting the love of my life Alison. In many ways you can say we are living the American dream. We are happy in every aspect of our lives from home, career, social life and family. Our lives are far from perfect but it is perfect for us. Our biggest dream is to build a family of our own. We have been trying for several years to conceive a child without any success. We decided it was time to visit a fertility specialist. We were denied treatment by the only reproductive endocrinologist in our area because he does not believe in treating same-sex couples. This was devastating news, we were horrified to actually experience this sort of discrimination. We have always felt that adoption is another option for our family’s growth. Unfortunately Mississippi has a state ban on same sex couples adopting. The combination of being discriminated against in the most intimate aspects of our lives was the final blow. We knew in that moment we had to do our part to stop this sort of discrimination.

Coincidently the day after being turned away by the fertility doctor, I came across an invite to a training for the WE DO Campaign in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Alison and I went to the training and met some of the most amazing people, who were doing such important work. Through the videos they showed us that night, we were introduced to couples who were brave enough to resist the discriminating laws that affect a countless number of couples just like Alison and myself. I was moved to tears and knew we had to get involved!

On January 2nd, 2013, Alison and I applied for a marriage license in Hattiesburg, Mississippi along with four other couples. We all walked away with a denial for our request but our stories were being told to our community. Most importantly we gained a new sense of unity within our new found “WE DO” family!

Some of our peers may not understand how “WE DO” is productive. There are so many aspects to gaining our equality. How can we convince our politicians of the importance of equality if we don’t tell our story? We are the human beings that are being directly affected by numerous discriminatory laws in thirty-seven states. We can not stop telling our stories until we have equality in marriage, adoption, healthcare and the work place!

To learn more about the WE DO Campaign, please read this USA Today article titled, “Gay-marriage supporters take aim at the South.”

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