Holly and Jason's wedding letter

When Holly and Jason married recently in Denver, they wrote the following letter pledging continued commitment to marriage equality. Their friend Christopher read the letter during their ceremony, and the couple received many requests for a copy from attendees.

Open letter to our friends and family:

When we met and fell in love, it was somewhat of a surprise. Both of us grew up in Mount Vernon, Iowa, have lived all over the country, and yet we had to move to Denver to find one another. As our relationship developed, we have had the support of you – our friends and family – and for that we are forever grateful.

We have always felt supported. Not only by you but by people we meet. When we got engaged, perfect strangers and casual acquaintances were eager to congratulate us, hear about wedding details and wish us well in our marriage. Not at any point have we had to worry that our relationship wouldn’t be recognized.

Yet many of the same people who supported us, celebrated with us and honored our relationship do not have the same luxury. It is with heavy hearts and overwhelming gratitude that we appreciate our gay friends for their support. It must be difficult to live in a world where you are asked to support relationships such as ours but are restricted – by law in many places – from having the same opportunities.

In exchange for your love and support, and in addition to the vows we are making to one another today, we vow continued support to our gay and lesbian friends. We promise we will continue to fight along with you until human rights are truly recognized in this state and in our country. And we encourage all of you here today to join us and help ensure that falling in love, regardless of whether it is the two of us or any other couple, is honored and respected.

There are people here today from states across the country. Proudly, our home state of Iowa now recognizes marriage between all couples. We hope our celebration of marriage will help to inspire your support for marriage between ALL committed and loving couples where you live too.

Thank you – to our family and our friends. We would not be here without your support.

In the words of President Teddy Roosevelt, "This country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a good place for all of us to live in."

Love,
Holly & Jason