Being Equal is for Everyone, by Markie

I posed for the NOH8 shoot because of my friends, and my own life.

I grew up being picked on because of my weight, and how I acted. I hated it. Then as a teen, kids at school thought I was a lesbian and it was a whole new platform of harassment. I am straight and always have been. When I look at my friends now, and see them in same-sex relationships, I worry that one day they will be harassed and put down or that they are having that done to them and just don't talk about it.

My extended family is also Catholic, and many of them believe that same-sex marriage is "wrong" - and not "right" since you can't have kids in a same-sex relationship. I posed the question to them - what about straight couples that can't have children, do their marriages still "count" even though they can't reproduce? My family has yet to come up with a real answer for me on that one.

I wanted to add my face to the campaign to show the world, and the people I know, that being equal is for everyone; not just for people who like the opposite sex. I also hope that seeing my picture, and being asked about the campaign as a result, will change the minds of the family I have that are against same-sex marriage. One can only hope.

Markie