of New York State Senator Greg Ball. I met up with David Giller
at a coffee shop in Peekskill, a small town in the center of the
district. After a brief recon and a pit-stop to buy a raincoat
(see picture!), we drove over to the Peekskill A&P to look for
New Yorkers that support marriage equality. Standing in the mist
in my new raincoat, clipboard in hand, I felt I faced a
monumental
“Excuse me, do you support marriage equality for New York?”
“Yes! Yes I do!”
For two hours, the steady stream of support and enthusiasm kept me
warm and dry. After a slight relocation to the entrance of a
nearby Barnes and Noble, David and I continued to collect postcards
and ask voters to call Senator Ball on the spot, with our cell
phones. We gathered 23 calls, over 100 postcards, and I gained a
sense of warmth and camaraderie.
I chatted with couples who disagreed with each other amicably: one
signing the card, the other looking longingly toward the bookstore
door. I talked with mothers and fathers with young kids – one
mother telling her son to thank me for my work. Teenagers not yet
old enough to vote were eager to show their support. One woman
with a voice condition agreed that it was too important not to
call. An elderly man gave me his cane to hold on my arm as he
filled out the card in his old-fashioned cursive. Another man
came back out of the store to tell me how proud he was of his son,
who lives in Baltimore with his loving partner.
Senator Ball, I have a message for you. Your district supports
marriage equality. I have seen it myself and I hope that the
calls, letters, and postcards let you see it, too. The tide
isn’t changing; it has changed. I hope you let it carry you
along.