Marriage Matters: Sharing Our Stories
Alvin (right), 50, is a dentist in private practice after retiring from the U.S. Army where he was a dental officer. Nigel, 36, is a program manager for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Nigel previously served in the U.S. Army National guard as a military police specialist.
They live in Upper Marlboro in Prince George's County Maryland and have been together for six years. They have an adopted 7-year-old son, and are in the process of adopting another 7-year-old boy and his biological sister, who is 9.
Both Alvin and Nigel are active in community service, serving on the board of directors of "Us Helping Us" — an HIV/AIDS service organization committed to reducing HIV infection in the African-American community. Alvin and Nigel also attend worship services at Covenant Baptist Church. They met at a discussion group for black gay men. "It was love at first sight," Alvin says.
"I have long felt as married as anyone who loves and lives with their spouse, raises kids, owns a home, and even drives a minivan," Nigel says. "Although we are a family in every way imaginable — a family with one military veteran and one federal employee — we are not fully protected as a family under the law."
Read through other families' stories here:
- Carmen and Anisia Machado
- Denise and Treeva Liggett-Creek
- Shelley Hayes and Mary Horvath
- Terri Miller and Cindy Simms
- Mark McKinney and Steve Lepre
- Jennifer Lin and Jeanne Fong
- Lori and Cin Diné
- Gita Deane and Lisa Polyak
- Nigel Simon and Alvin Williams
- Jo Rabb and Takia Foskey
- Lisa Laurey and Toni Williamson
- Richard Phelps and Mitchell Wood
- Desiree Leone and Carolee Stoll
- Barry Clayton and Michael Garaza
- Stephanie Furness and Shannon Kearns
- Charles Blackburn and Glen Dehn
- Delia Meraz and Persephone Gonzalez
- Amorie Robinson and Hattie Alexander-Robinson
Why Marriage Matters America, Equality, and Gay People's Right to Marry
By Evan Wolfson
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Read families’ stories about how marriage discrimination affects everyday life. These stories communicate, in concrete ways, how the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage hurts families and helps no one.
Start in The Marriage Basics to get short answers to your big questions about the freedom to marry, and learn more about the protections and responsibilities of marriage, the historical background for this civil rights movement, why separate is not equal, and so much more.
