Rally for Equality

Remarks of Bert Easter, President SCGLPM, at a rally held on the steps of the state capitol

14 February 2004

Last fall, the SC Gay and Lesbian Pride Movement decided that this year we would join in the nationwide celebration of Freedom to Marry Day. For years, national and state organizations have been using Freedom to Marry Day, Feb 12, to draw attention to the need for fair and just treatment of same-sex relationships and families. The court decisions in Massachusetts, and the introduction of the anti-gay Federal Marriage Amendment, made it clear that we NEEDED to talk about marriage in this state. We decided to declare Feb 8-15 SC Marriage Equality Week.

We wanted to start a conversation in this state about marriage. We had no idea, when we were planning these events last fall, what would happen this month. We had no idea that there would be gay and lesbian marriages in San Francisco. We had no idea that Massachusetts would be arguing over the difference between a civil union and a marriage. And we had no idea that our own legislators would propose viciously anti-gay bills only days before our events.

What we did know was that there were no local voices, no local faces, and no local stories in the South Carolina media about same-sex marriage. When South Carolinians—and South Carolina legislators—talk about marriage, they need to know that they are talking about fellow South Carolinians — about South Carolina citizens, South Carolina couples, and South Carolina families.

They need to know that there were over 15,000 gays and lesbians in this state who self-identified as couples and families on the 2000 Census. They need to know that almost 30 percent of the gay couples and almost 40 percent of lesbian couples in this state are raising children at home. Treating these families differently is discrimination. The bills proposed in the State House behind us are not only anti-gay, they are anti-child and anti-family.

Rep. Marty Coates, the Republican from Florence who wrote one of those bills, said "This is a legal issue." HE IS RIGHT. Marriage is not a religious ceremony, it is a civil contract that protects and supports couples and families. Same-sex marriage is NOT a threat to heterosexual marriage. But the Federal Marriage Amendment and South Carolina House bills 4657 and 4674 ARE THREATS to our families, our relationships, and our children.

If South Carolina recognized our unions, Bishop Dorsey Henderson over there at the Trinity Episcopal Cathedral would never have to perform a single same-sex ceremony. This is about legal equality, not religious doctrine. If South Carolina recognized same-sex marriage, it would not undermine the opposite-sex marriages of Rep. Rick Quinn, or any of the other Republican legislator so vigorously opposing our equality.

If South Carolina recognized our families, they would begin to understand that we are an integral part of this state. We are their co-workers. We are the folks at the other end of the church pew. We are the family next door. We are part of South Carolina, and deserve to be treated like any other citizen of this great state.