Marriage Matters: Sharing Our Stories
Charles (right), 72, is retired after working for 25 years as a fundraiser for institutions in the Baltimore area, including the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
Ordained a Unitarian minister in 1962, Charles was heavily involved in the civil rights movement in Alabama in the mid 60s and then became an organizer for the American Civil Liberties Union in ten southern states. Glen, 67, is retired after 31 years of legislative planning and analysis for the U.S. Social Security Administration. They live in Baltimore and have been together for more than 26 years.
As senior citizens, Charles and Glen are healthy and active. They enjoy traveling around the world and share interests in art, theater and classical music. They are living their "golden years" to the fullest, but worry about what will happen to them when the time comes to slow down. Without the benefits and protections of marriage, the decades Charles and Glen have spent together could be at risk.
"We are concerned about being separated in a nursing home," Charles says. "We are so grateful to have each other; we'd hate to be alone as gay seniors. But we fear we might end up alone if we can't protect our relationship."
As a retired federal employee, Glen has excellent health benefits and coverage that he cannot share with Charles. Now that Charles is in his 70's, he wonders what will happen if he becomes ill and the protections of marriage are not available to him.
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.
