[ [link removed] ]John Fetterman


[ [link removed] ]John, I'm emailing you today
to respectfully ask if you'll chip in your very first donation to our grassroots
campaign. Before I do that, I’m gonna share a personal story about pride,
love, and why I will *never* stop fighting for our LGBTQIA+ community in
PA and across the country. It's kind of long, but it's important:

Bill Gray and John Kandray didn't have a typical wedding ceremony.

For one thing, it was held in my unfinished loft, with only a matter of
hours to prepare. Things were a bit hectic. But the air was electric,
because it would be the first same-sex marriage ever performed in
Allegheny County.

This was 2013, and under the Defense of Marriage Act, same-sex marriage
was banned in Pennsylvania. 

[ [link removed] ]Two couples deeply in love: Bill Gray and John Kandray, joined by John
and Gisele

Two couples deeply in love: Bill Gray and John Kandray, joined by John and
Gisele

I thought it was a disgrace that Pennsylvania had made discrimination a
part of our state law — that's why I proudly joined the "Mayors for the
Freedom to Marry" (the first mayor in Pennsylvania to do so) and announced
that I would do what no other elected official in the state would: Defy
the state law and officiate same-sex weddings.

Bill and John were the first couple who called me, not long after they had
driven hundreds of miles across Pennsylvania to obtain a license in
Montgomery County. The county's register of wills had begun issuing
marriage licenses to same-sex couples, and they knew this was their chance
to obtain one in their home state.

They had shared a life together for 11 years, with a house and two dogs.
The fact that a couple as kind and nice as them could not marry each other
showed that there was something fundamentally wrong with the system.

Bill and John didn't want to wait until the weekend. I couldn't blame
them. They had been waiting for this moment for over a decade. So we held
the ceremony on a Monday night right after work.

I put on my finest cargo shorts and black Dickies work shirt, picked up a
rainbow cake from Costco, and we had ourselves a wedding surrounded by
their family and friends. 🌈💛

For anyone who was there that night or saw the wedding on the news, it was
impossible not to see the joy on Bill and John's faces and deny that their
love was just as pure, just as valid as anyone else's. I ended up
officiating over two dozen more same-sex weddings before the ban was
finally overturned, but none were as memorable as that first one.

[ [link removed] ]On MSNBC in 2013

On MSNBC in 2013 

Now that marriage equality is the law of the land, it's easy to forget
that only a few years ago, Pennsylvania was just one of 35 states that
still banned same-sex marriage. We were under legal threat from Republican
Governor Tom Corbett's office, and a lot of people said what I was doing
was disgusting and wrong.

But I never asked for a legal opinion. I never was concerned what
performing these ceremonies would cost me personally. I was always going
to choose to do the right thing, regardless of the consequences — and I
was quite frankly disappointed in other elected officials who didn't step
up and do the same.

Of course, the fight for equality didn't end that night in my living room.
Bill and John's marriage still wasn't recognized by the state or federal
government. But weddings like theirs helped to turn the tide for marriage
equality — until finally, in May of 2014, a judge ruled that gay couples
would no longer be relegated to second-class citizenship in the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

And then in 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. Constitution
requires states to license and recognize same-sex marriages.

We've made some incredible progress, but there are still steps we need to
take to ensure LGBTQIA+ Americans are treated as equal citizens. It's
ludicrous that in 2021, someone can in many instances still be fired from
their job, refused care at a hospital, or denied housing because of their
sexual orientation or gender identity. How can we let students go to
school everyday in an environment where they're afraid to be verbally or
physically bullied?

We are better than this, which is why we need to keep moving forward. The
Senate MUST pass the Equality Act. We're closer than we've ever been — and
as a U.S. Senator, I want to make sure we get there. Expanding rights and
protections for LGBTQIA+ Americans is a no-brainer, because just like in
2013, I'm always going to do the right thing regardless of the political
consequences.

[ [link removed] ]John, if
that's the kind of leadership you'd like to see representing working
families in the U.S. Senate, then I have to ask you: Will you make your
very first donation
to our campaign today?



[ [link removed] ]Contribute $5



Yours,

John

John Fetterman
Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania


 


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