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When a 15-year-old girl showed up at the New Jersey Assembly Judiciary hearings last week, one myth about same sex marriage was shot right out of the water. People across the country still think the battle is just about the rights for gay and lesbians to marry. But for 15-year-old Madison Galluccio, it's much more than that.
It's a way to give her family -- including her dads Jon and Michael -- the same footing as the families of all her school friends. As long as the Garden State refuses to let gays marry, their kids are being discriminated against by the state right along with their two moms or two dads. As this child told members of a government that's supposed to work for her, "This is my family, and I want us to be able to have the same rights as you."
See this video on The Stir by CafeMom.
Madison is the perfect spokesperson for the cause not because she is fighting for her dads (although she is), but for herself too. And why not? Brad and Angelina have been rumored to be discussing tying the knot at the behest of their kids, and no one batted an eye. The fact that they're straight doesn't make their kids "different" from Madison. They're all just kids.
Is it any wonder we live in a nation where kids are bullied for being "different" in school when kids are being told that something as simple as their family make-up makes them less worthy of legal rights than their peers? Whether your parents are gay or straight, your family should "count" under the law.
Madison's speech has gone viral this week because of her eloquence but also because she pointed out what so many are unwilling to address: allowing gay dads and gay moms to marry is good for their kids. Ironic, isn't it, considering so many of the "defense of marriage act" that denies these people the right to wed claim to be doing so for the "sake of the children." It's time they realize that all children count ... even ones like Madison Galluccio.
Would you be proud to call this girl your daughter too?
Image via NJ.com
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