Yesterday, history was made in
the House of Representatives with the passing of the Marriage Equality Act.
During the floor debate leading
up to the monumental vote, members on both sides of the aisle gave impassioned and
emotional speeches in support of marriage equality and – believe me – there wasn’t
a dry eye in democratic side of the house.
In fact, the speech given by
Rep. Laurie Jinkins was so moving that the video was posted on CNN and you can
watch it here.
Here is the full text of the
speech:
This is about family. About kids. It’s about love and
commitment. It’s about encouraging people who want to spend their
lives together to send out invitations, buy a wedding dress and dance.
Because life isn’t about having a 5,000 square-foot
house and four BMWs in the garage.
We talk a lot about education here and how a college
degree is the surest ticket to the American Dream.
A decent house in a safe neighborhood with good
schools. Getting a good education and a good job, with benefits
like health care – we work so hard for those things because they let us do what matters most: taking care of our family.
I don’t drive a BMW. I drive a 1999 Honda and my
partner drives a minivan. My family and I live in a modest home in Tacoma, not a
mansion.
And that doesn’t matter.
It doesn’t matter one bit.
Because when I come home from work every night, to my
partner of 23 years and to our son Wulf, I have all the riches and treasure a woman could want.
So I am voting YES for families,
YES for the two female sailors who showed the world
the right way to walk off a warship in Bremerton,
YES because I’m proud of the courage shown by senators
and representatives from both parties,
and YES not just because marriage is a good and noble institution
to encourage and celebrate, but because all we do here – education and jobs and
health care – in the end, we do all those things for one, simple, beautiful reason:
FAMILY.
FAMILY.
