Hi, is this...?

In the middle of a phone bank right now and I just spoke to someone who nearly made me cry. A woman in her late fifties was telling me this story of the best example why civil unions don't work. Her partner came down with an aggressive and rare form of cancer. Her employer fortunately offered health care benefits for civilly unioned partners, so she was able to get the treatment she needed. Unfortunately the treatment did not work. While at work, her partner collapsed while a the grocery store and was taken to the hospital. She arrived and tried to explain to the man behind the desk that they had a civil union. He would not let her back because she was not family. While she argued, presented papers and legal documents, her partner died.

Not having health care is a problem, but people can work themselves out of medical debt and these folks were fortunate where they were able to find an employer that recognized their union. Same-sex partners write up legal documents stating they have power of attorney over their partners. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But because this woman could not say that the person dying just down the hall was her wife, she died among strangers. There is no way to fix the civil unions law, there is no education campaign that can be waged to turn around the reality that this woman died alone and as a second class citizen while her partner argued and begged and pleaded just yards away.

Anyone who votes against the marriage equality bill out of religious belief, while wrong, can not be faulted. It is not their fault that they are not yet able to see past the idea that religious doctrine should not dictate civil laws. Trying to fix the civil union law will take so much more time, effort and resources than just saying yes to marriage. In Massachusetts, the divorce rate decreased after marriage equality arrived. In Vermont, they passed a civil union law and, finally, recently realized the law was insufficient.

Okay. Stepping down from the soap box and back to the phones.

It is snowing in New Jersey, and people are acting like the world is about to end. How can there be so little preparation for snow in this state?

So it looks like my stint in New Jersey is coming to an end. Major budget cuts reduced my salary by 75%, which translates to me heading back to Maine and getting a job working for health care, a debate which I have been sorely absent from. I have no idea what's happening there because I've been living marriage equality all day every day for nigh on ten months now. I'm a little intimidated, to be honest. There's so much work that has gone into creating this goddamned bill that now... well who knows.

I feel really bad about it too. Like I'm deserting the people of New Jersey. Like I'm dropping marriage equality as the most important thing to me right now.

I've been working on an open letter to New Jersey, and will post it soon. Kind of a dry run for future open letters. Not that anyone will read it, but at least it's out there. And maybe a bio. Not that anyone would care all that much.