Minister Couple Committed to Marriage Equality
Jeff and Joelle are both ministers in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Jeff moved to upstate New York from West Virginia in 2006; Joelle moved there from California in 2007. They met shortly thereafter, at a presbytery committee meeting. Jeff and Joelle started dating two months later, growing more deeply in love with each passing day. They have three children in their blended family.
"God requires us to work for justice and equality for all people in our society; to do otherwise is to violate the command of Scripture to show equal and impartial justice to all (Deuteronomy 16:19-20). Yet in our society, justice is denied to our LGBT friends, since they alone do not have the legal right to marry the person of their choosing."
Jeff and Joelle registered with HRC's Wedding Registry to express their committment to marriage equality.
"We are in love. We rejoice that we are getting married. We look forward to spending the rest of our lives together. It is our hope and prayer that one day, every adult couple in this country, regardless of gender, will have this same legal right. By giving to this wedding registry of the Human Rights Campaign, you are furthering the work for LGBTs to have the same right as every other American citizen: to fall in love and marry the person of their own choosing."