This post comes from Lincoln, Nebraska couple Ryan Lowry and Mitch Lee
Three weeks ago, my partner Mitch and I entered a contest through our local newspaper in Lincoln, NE to win a wedding package. When we entered, we had no idea the kind of response we would get. What started as a local effort to get our friends and family to vote for us turned into a national (and even international) outpouring of support.
The contest ended on July 18th, and I am thrilled to say that out of nearly 90 couples who entered, we received the highest number of votes and won! We want to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone who followed our story and showed thier support. As the contest progressed, and the comments came in, we realized it was no longer about us or the prize. Instead it was about standing up for equal rights and that even in some of the most conservative parts of the country, people are willing to show their support for same-sex marriage.
There is no way we could have ever done this without the love from friends and family. They know how truly thankful we are. However, there are a number of people we have never met who voiced their support – many of whom are HRC members. To those individuals we are not able to thank in person, we want you to know how much your words of encouragement mean to us. Our gratitude can only be repaid through continued efforts on our part to spread the message of marriage equality. We also want to thank the HRC, especially Fred Sainz and Charlie Joughin, for sharing our story. We are extremely excited about the future. The Nebraska state motto is “Equality before the law”. To everyone who supported us in this effort, you have brought us one step closer to seeing it put into practice, and for that we say THANK YOU!
-Ryan Lowry and Mitch Lee
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