Three Same-Sex Couples Tell Their Stories in New Video

PORTLAND, ME - Melissa and Angela have been together 11 years and are raising a young son.  Steve and Jim, together for 30 years, run a small business.  Rita and Sara Jane have eight grandchildren between them, and have been together for 25 years.  All three Maine couples would like to get married – but they can’t.
 
In the new video, The Way Life Should Be: Marriage in Maine, these six Maine residents tell the stories of their lives and relationships and why they want to get married in Maine.  They discuss everything from parenting to aging and describe how their exclusion from marriage affects their lives legally, emotionally and socially.
 
“It is simply unfair to treat loving, committed couples as complete strangers,” said Rachel Myers, field organizer for the Maine Civil Liberties Union.  “We should stop excluding same-sex couples from the protections of marriage.”
 
“I think marriage isn’t just about the other person, it’s not just about children and it’s not just about society – it’s about all those things together,” said Steve, who is featured in video.  “I don’t think there’s anything I’d rather do than get married to Jim.”
 
The video can be viewed online at YouTube at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCzJn3PRhfk. In conjunction with the national Freedom to Marry Week, February 11-17, The Way Life Should Be: Marriage in Maine is being shown at house parties and sent to cable access stations across the state.
 
The video is a production of the Maine Civil Liberties Union, EqualityMaine and Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, who worked with filmmaker Molly O’Neill of Moped Productions on the 12-minute video.  It was funded in part by a Maine Community Foundation grant from the Catawamteak Fund.  For more information, visit the Foundation’s website at www.mainecf.org or call toll-free 1-877-700-6800.