Sheila Milne and Susan Myers: Participants in the WE DO Campaign who requested a license at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, May 9, 2012 in Wilson, NC.
Susan was born and grew up in Ahoskie NC (small eastern NC town). Sheila was born in Edinburgh, Scotland but grew up in eastern and southern Africa. Upon Sheila’s father’s retirement from United Nations, her family returned to England where Sheila finished high school. Sheila was recruited to play tennis at Barton College. That is where they met each other over 25 years ago. They were double partners on the college tennis team. They became partners on and off the tennis court. Fifteen years into their committed relationship, they decided they wanted to start a family. They are now the very proud parents of a remarkable 10 year old daughter, Cameron Myers Milne. Susan and Sheila live in Wilson, NC and they feel very much at home here. Wilson is their home. This is where the met, were educated, are employed, purchased a home, pay taxes, and rear their child. Susan, Sheila and Cameron are surrounded by loving, compassionate and educated friends (gay and straight) who reinforce their commitment to each other. Wilson is their home…..however, even after 25 years they cannot legally wed in NC.
Susan and Sheila decided to take matters into their own hands. They went to New York City for their 25th Anniversary in December of 2011 so that they could be legally wed in the presence of their daughter. That was a special day! Cameron held the rings! Susan and Sheila were officially married on December 20th, which happens to be Susan’s parent’s 56th wedding anniversary. Following their wedding ceremony, they purchased two padlocks from a nearby store. Each wrote their names and the date of the marriage on the locks. They then walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and fastened the locks to the bridge. These locks are known as “Locks of Love”; there are hundreds of locks attached to the Brooklyn Bridge. Following a great lunch in Central Park’s Boathouse, a carriage ride around the park, photographs at Strawberry Fields on John Lennon’s Imagine mosaic, they took a cab to Carlo’s Bakery (The Cake Boss) in Hoboken, NJ to pick up their cake. Although they were just legally married in the state of NY, they had “25 years” written on the cake so as to truly represent their years of commitment.
This was a special time for their family as NY made them feel welcomed. They treated their love, commitment and their ceremony with the utmost respect and equality. This was good for Cameron to witness. It was good for her to see that there are other states that recognize her parents’ commitment and her family. The marriage license from New York is instantly recognized and honored in Sheila’s home country of Great Britain. But, on a sad note…they were not able to do this in the presence of their friends and family in Wilson, NC. Instead, they were forced to take the long journey to another state.
“I just want everyone to know on May 9th, no matter the result of the voting May 8th, we will continue to live our lives as we have for the past 25 years. Our lives will not be defined by this vote. Our family will not be defined by this vote. We will continue to live our lives in a manner that perhaps one day will overshadow the hypocrisy of the scriptures that certain people arm themselves with in an attempt to strip others of their civil rights and promote discrimination, ” writes Susan Myers.
– Sheila Milne and Susan Myers
