To the Editor:

I live in Albuquerque currently, but I grew up in North Carolina and spent summers at Lake Junaluska. My father is a Methodist minister. I am a Christian, lesbian and in the most committed, loving, relationship of my life.

My mom called keep me updated on the vote next week to exclude gays and lesbians from marrying, having civil unions and/or domestic partnerships.

Every day as a psychotherapist I work to keep heterosexual families together. Every day, my wife (significant other,single on tax forms) and partner who works in child psych and pediatrics, put family’s lives back together.  

Every single day we work with children who have been raped, tortured, molested and otherwise by married mothers and fathers. And each day in New Mexico a gay or lesbian family steps up to adopt another unwanted child. We work with all families, believe in all families, and are pro families, regardless of makeup.

We have been considering moving back home to be closer to our families.

How can we ever return to North Carolina to be closer to our family if when we do we: would lose the right to adopt, lose the right to have one of us covered under the other’s insurance, lose the right to visit each other in the ICU, and lose the right to teach our children that the state of North Carolina, and the South in general, believe in and provide rights for all families.

I thought Jesus was a civil rights activist. He promoted love and rights for everyone. Frankly, I think he would be disgusted.

You may never know of the positive impact this paper had on the lives of people because you stood up and voiced such a necessary opinion to protect all children and all families (in the column in last week’s Smoky Mountain News, “Voters should defeat bigotry and Amendment One,” www.smokymountainnews.com/component/k2/item/6928). Thank you.

Traci Tippett,

Clinical Trainer, Psychotherapist

Albuquerque, N.M.