Marriage Boycott Pledge

To:  Whom It May Concern

We, the undersigned, recognize that the revered institution of marriage has been used to exclude, discriminate, and render queer people second-class citizens.Among the bigoted electoral defeats on November 4, 2008, Arizona, California, and Florida voted to deny same-sex couples legal protections to marry the partner of their choice.

Additionally, the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) bars the few same-sex couples who can marry in their states from having those marriages recognized across state lines, denying these couples all federal rights and benefits associated with marriage. Were DOMA repealed, however, any same-sex couple could marry in a state with marriage equality laws (ex: Massachusetts) and that marriage would be federally recognized in every state.

We, the undersigned, are disappointed and outraged at these state and federal discrimination attacks, and we stand in solidarity with our queer friends, family members, neighbors, and loved ones so personally impacted by the aforementioned policies. Their struggle is our struggle.

We believe that marriage is a venerated and cherished institution in society. The ability to love someone deeply and then devote one’s life to that person through marriage is such an incredible pleasure and gift. However, the institution is devalued when it singles out one group of people and discriminates against it.

Just as preceding social movements utilized the boycott to raise awareness about discrimination and pressure institutions proliferating injustice, we stand with the queer community and purposefully forgo our privilege and choose to boycott marriage until the institution ends its discriminatory practices.

We vow not to marry until everyone in America can marry the person of their choosing, regardless of gender and sexual orientation. We protest marriage until equality is achieved and everyone can partake in marrying the person they love. We respect marriage too much to partake in the institution while it is rife with such injustice.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Marriage Boycott Pledge Petition to Whom It May Concern was created by Emma Goldman Society for Queer Liberation and written by Alexis Ortega (lexis03@stanford.edu).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.