1. So, the “I Do” anthologies in general – what’s the idea behind them?

Alex:

Well, it all goes back to the passing of Proposition 8 in California, which not only forbade same sex couples from marrying, it actually made many marriages which had taken place before the ruling invalid.  I think that little extra twist of cruelty was the straw that broke the camel’s back and provoked a massive outcry amongst all my friends and all the people I knew. 

The idea that the government could give the right to marry at one point and then take it away a few months later seemed horrifying to me.  My marriage is probably the best thing in my life, and I thought that the chance to have something similar should not be denied to people just because they happened to be two men, or two women. 

I’m in the UK, so I couldn’t join the protest marches.  I couldn’t write to my senator.  And most organizations who were fighting the ruling would not accept donations from people outside the country.  So I was very frustrated.  As I looked around for something that I could do to help, it occurred to me that I was a writer.  Maybe I could use that?  I posted on my blog, asking if anyone else would be interested in putting together an anthology of stories and selling it to raise money to fight for marriage equality, and the response was incredible.  I was inundated with offers of help.  One of those offers was from Laura Baumbach, volunteering to publish the book through her firm, MLR Press.

We got together a submissions call, were swamped with stories, and put out the first volume, “I Do: An anthology in support of marriage equality” in time for Valentine’s day 2009. This year, as the need had not gone away, we decided to do a second volume, “I Do Two.”  Lee has been in charge of organizing that one, as I nearly had a nervous breakdown over the first!

 

2.Why are equal rights for gay people important?

Lee:

“When they came for the Jews, I did not speak up, because I was not a Jew…”  Pastor Niemoller’s lament on ignoring discrimination speaks to this issue.  If one group can be legally discriminated against, anyone can be.  And sooner or later, everyone will be.  That’s how hate works.

Why are equal rights important for anyone?  The most horrific example of discrimination I know of is a case where one member of a long-term lesbian couple in the state of Virginia was dying in the hospital, and her homophobic parents, under a prop-8 style amendment, barred her wife from her deathbed.

There are over 1000 rights that conventional couples gain by the simple act of legal marriage.  Literally a thousand!  And many are irreproducible. What’s more, allowing same-sex couples to live openly only threatens the lie that we are somehow freakishly different.  And the only way I know of to defend one’s marriage is to be kind to one’s spouse.

Why are equal rights important?  Because love is something that should be encouraged, not despised.  And discrimination does not belong in the fabric of a nation that claims to promote “Liberty and justice for all.”

It does not belong in a sane, balanced, compassionate human society.

Alex adds:

What kind of a world is it where there is a law that prevents two people in love committing to each other in the sight of society, and forming a family?  What kind of a world do we live in where we think it’s necessary to legislate against commitment and fidelity?  Surely if two people want to get married, that is a cause for celebration and we should be praising them for being willing to take on that kind of responsibility?  There should not be a law against love.

 

3. What sort of stories will we find in ‘I Do Two’?

Kris:

 You’ll find some wonderful stories, more romantic in nature than those in ‘I Do.’ Not that the stories in the first volume weren’t romantic, they had more heat in them.  I think Charlie Cochrane and I were talking about the differences in the two volumes and came up with ‘I Do’ is like a Latin salsa, fast paced and sizzling whereas ‘I Do Two’ is more like a waltz, romantic.

 

4. Where exactly is the money going?

Alex:

It’s going to these people:

http://www.lambdalegal.org/

The USA’s oldest and largest legal organization working for the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, and people with HIV/AIDS.

 

5. Where can we buy ‘I Do Two’?

Kris:

 Here’s the buy link: http://www.mlrbooks.com/ShowBook.php?book=IDO21002

and readers can find the first volume at http://www.mlrbooks.com/ShowBook.php?book=IDO21001