8 Families Fighting For The Right To Get Married

New Left Media and TheFour.com captured the stories of same-sex couples from four states (Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, and Washington) that have marriage equality votes coming up in November.

1. Meet Liz and Angela. They’ve been together 6+ years and have an 11-month-old son.

Like many, they worry about being good parents. And despite having opposite personalities, they meet in the middle.

They had to get officially married in Boston because it’s not legal in Maryland.

They just want to know that their family is protected like everyone else’s in the state.

2. Meet Annie and Meredith. They’ve been together for 10+ years.

Because it’s not legal to get married in Maine, they had a commitment ceremony.

They hope to “replace” their certificate of support with an official marriage license.

For them, “this is it.” They want to spend the rest of their lives together.

3. Meet Jim and Steve. They’ve been together for 37+ years.

They always interrupt each other and always finish each other’s sentences.

They moved into a new house together in Maine and in many ways feel like a young couple again.

But they are worried about retirement and healthcare. They want to make sure they have access to each other in a time of need.

4. Meet Theresa and Justine. They’ve been together 10+ years.

They have two energetic daughters, which means every day it’s “full steam ahead.”

But even after all this time together, they still take each other’s breath away.

For them, to get married in Minnesota means they can introduce each other as “wife.”

5. Meet Michael and Jamil. They’ve been together 5+ years.

They challenge each other every day but feed off each other’s energy.

They share custody of their 7-year-old daughter, Madison.

And while they are a “married” couple of three years, it’s not legally recognized in Minnesota.

6. Meet Marika and Regina. They’ve been together 12+ years.

They had to hire a lawyer to ensure both parents had rights to their daughter, June.

They are frustrated they cannot cover each other on their health insurance.

At the end of the day, all they want is to be treated like any “normal couple” in Minnesota.

7. Meet Jamie and Eric. They’ve been together 10+ years and have four boys.

In each other, they’ve found people they want as a lifetime partner and people they want to raise a family with.

Their kids are too young to realize their family isn’t treated equally in the state of Washington.

They hope their sons’ generation will be the first that “don’t have to ever remember that.”

8. Meet Debbie and Anna. They’ve been together 12+ years.

They are grateful to have each other in their lives.

And they feel that their family is very much a part of the Washington community.

But what they don’t want is their sons to ever question that they are different than anyone else.

Each story was captured on film by Chase Whiteside and Erick Stoll in partnership with TheFour.com in a four-part series called, Marriage For All Families. Their goal was to demonstrate the everyday “challenges, responsibilities and aspirations” these families experience just like most families across the nation.

Watch each of the video versions of the stories told above:

Maine
Maryland
Minnesota
Washington

These four states will vote on the marriage rights for same-sex couples on November 6th. Learn how to get involved here.