I had to recognize my own dignity as a lesbian before I could be truly effective as an advocate. Those brave queens at Stonewall had to fight back in 1969 so that they would no longer be subject to arrest simply for being gay. Evan Wolfson, while still a student at Harvard Law School, had to have the vision to write a paper in 1983 entitled "Samesex Marriage and Morality: The Human Rights Vision of the Constitution." Mary Bonauto had to bring those first cases in Vermont and Massachusetts when many thought she was being reckless, crazy, or both. Edie Windsor had to stand up and sue the United States of America to honor her marriage to Thea Spyer. Jim Obergefell in Ohio and Carla Webb and Joce Pritchett in Mississippi had to go to court to have their marriages legally acknowledged. Countless other gay men and lesbians had to step forward and demand that their dignity be recognized by their families, neighbors, colleagues, and finally their own government. And, together, we changed the world.
-- Roberta Kaplan, Then Comes Marriage, p. 322-323
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