Letter to Barack Obama

Today I received an email from the Inauguration Team for the President-Elect asking for a donation to help fund Inauguration Day.
Took me a few mintutes to find the email address to send a message, which is below:


Dear President Elect Obama:
I was so filled with hope. I donated money. I blogged, wrote letters. attended events. Talked up Mr. Obama to everyone and anyone.For the first time in my lifetime, I had hope. My family had hope. My 15 year-old daughter also worked tirelessly.We took time out from a schedule of church, school, volunteering with a local food bank and charity to do what we could. Took off of work to stand in line for hours before election day, at one polling place available to us in Cleveland, where we had to park blocks away and walk, and stand with thousands of others that wanted true change.Along with the change we hoped for, my little family also desired acceptance and equality.My partner and I have been together almost 30 years. We made the decision together to conceive our daughter, who we have raised to be a caring person, a true global citizen that wants to become a doctor and work with Doctors Without Borders.Unfortunately, equality is apparently out of reach for my family.Although I am in every respect my daughter's parent, I am not her biological mother. If I die, my social security cannot go to my partner to help care for my child and assist her in attaining her amazing goals.Why? I simply don't understand why my child's future is less important than my straight, married and even divorced neighbors.I had hope. Then Prop 8 passed. Aided and endorsed by the very man you've asked to deliver the invocation on inauguration day.When I received the email asking for a donation to help fund that day, I was crushed and put into my place all over again.Apparently my money is good enough, but my 30 year, faithful and loving relationship is not.The invitation to Rick Warren doesn't instill any hope in me whatsoever that I am going to be an equal citizen in the US any time soon.It's business as usual, and frankly sir, it's simply hurtful and a slap in the face to all of the individuals and families like mine that believed in you.