Why We Posed for the NOH8 Campaign

We have a California Proposition 8 same-sex marriage. We were heart broken when Proposition 8 passed. All of our friends, family and coworkers were ecstatic about President Obama's victory. Everyone was talking about what progress this election meant for equality, but for us, one of our basic civil rights was taken away at the voting booths.

We moved to New York City this past summer. We had a lot of questions as we tried to file our 2009 tax returns. For our federal taxes we file as single. For our half year in California we file as married. For our half year in New York we file as single. We had a lot of trouble splitting up our joint debt and assets across these varying tax statuses.

When the NOH8 Campaign rolled into New York City, there was no question about where we would be after work that day. We wanted to give our faces and our story to the campaign. We posed in opposition to hate and Prop 8.

Sincerely,

Erin O'Brien and Dara Barnett