"Petitioners misunderstand the institution of marriage when they say that it would "mean little" absent governmental recognition. Brief for Petitioners in No.14-556, 9. 33"
This statement from one of the dissenting judges is the most profound for me. I lived a portion of my young adult life in a same-sex relationship. Although I could not take the sacrament, say prayers, or hold a calling in my ward, I never stopped going to church. When I informed my parents of my decision I was treated with love and boundaries. They were the same boundaries that would have been applicable had I been in a heterosexual relationship. My mother was firm that anyone that I chose to live with would be loved and welcomed by her, but that physical acts of affection would not be tolerated in her home where her grandchildren would be exposed to my example. These were the same restrictions that they placed on me as a dating teenager. I am able to look back on that time of my life as a happy time, incomplete, but happy all the same. I retain my connections and love for other members of the gay community, many of whom share a traditional belief in marriage.
Another quote from a dissenting judge "Marriage did not come about as a result of a political movement, discovery, disease, war, religious doctrine, or any other moving force of world history- and certainly not as a result of a prehistoric decision to exclude gays and lesbians. It arose in the nature of things to meet a vital need: ensuring that children are conceived by a mother and father committed to raising them in the stable conditions of a lifelong relationship". This is a deciding factor of why I chose to live a life in harmony with what I had been taught my whole life. When I evaluated my life and what would complete it, I was lacking parenthood. I certainly could have chosen to be artificially inseminated to achieve this goal, but I knew that "children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity (The Family: A Proclamation to the World)". I cannot express the intense joy and happiness that I have found being married and having children. My attraction to members of the same gender has not magically disappeared, but neither does it hinder me from the intense love and attraction I have for my husband. A majority judge made this statement, and I completely agree, "No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were".
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