Adult Daughter of Gay Dads on Why Marriage Equality Matters

On March 26 and 27 the Supreme Court will hear arguments in the DOMA and Proposition 8 cases. The decisions in both cases will address a common question: Should all Americans have the freedom to marry the person they love?

The children being raised by LGBT parents are in an excellent position to answer that question — and across the United States they are speaking out. The Family Equality Council and our coalition partners have filed a “Children’s Voices” amicus curiae brief asking the Supreme Court to consider what these young people have to say about their families.

Sarah Gogin lives in California and is one of the amici in the “Children’s Voices” brief.

“We’re a pretty traditional ‘untraditional’ family,” she muses. The traditions that mean the most to her family? Beginning when she was young, Sarah and her parents had “Friday Night at the Movies,” ordering pizza and watching a classic film together every week. Sarah credits this time with her fathers with endowing her with a lifelong appreciation of black-and-white films and, she jokes, “a great sense of fashion!”

The McPherson-Gogin family is Irish, Italian and Catholic, which means “big celebrations at Christmas and Easter,” and “of course, a lot of food.” Religion, she adds, “is a very important part of my family’s life.” So is their connection to their community. They have “a lot of San Francisco pride,” and, Sarah adds, her Pop has become a mentor for many of her friends and classmates over the years. In the “Children’s Voices” Supreme Court brief, Sarah describes how her Dad “became assistant soccer coach and one of the key members of the [high school] Athletic Board,” while her Pop “became the first male president of the Mother’s Board.”

More via the Huffington Post