An open letter to our friends and neighbors in the greater Maine seacoast.

 I'm writing to thank you for the warmth and support you've provided my children, my partner Anna , and me all the years our family has lived in seacoast Maine.  We love our town, our schools, and the greater seacoast community, because so many of you, in your own way, have welcomed our family into your lives and helped us make a home here.  You've lovingly coached or taught our kids; generously invited them to your children's birthday parties; cheered with us in the basketball and baseball stands, on the t-ball field, and in the gym at school concerts, dance recitals, and kindergarten graduations; roamed the school halls with us at open houses; and browsed the shelves alongside us at school book fairs.

 It would be impossible to express the depth of gratitude we feel toward each of you, specifically, and toward the greater  community, in general,  which your everyday acts of kindness and generosity have helped to create.

 Now, my family faces a critical moment, and I'm asking, for the first time, for the kind of support you've always given our family so freely in the past.

November 3, 2009, Maine voters will decide whether to reject the law the Maine state legislature passed by a wide margin last May that permits Anna and me to legally marry.  The law is critical to my family because the right to marry guarantees our two children, ages 6 and 10, the rights and protections marriage grants automatically to a married couple's children.  Over 400 rights and protections exist for the children of married couples, but the critical ones for our family include:

•  The right to health insurance benefits that aren't taxed as additional income (Many people are unaware that health insurance provided via domestic partner benefits are subject to income tax.);
• The right for either Anna or me to make critical decisions on our children's behalf in medical emergencies without the worry of whether hospital or other medical professionals will honor those decisions;
•  Our children's right to inherit property upon Anna's death without bearing the burden of heavy inheritance taxes;
• Our children's right to survivor protections (pension and retirement income, accidental death and disability benefits) should Anna die or suffer disabilities that prevent her from returning to work.