1 LARRY GRIFFIN AND RICHARD HALLEE-GRIFFIN , FIRST SAME-SEX COUPLE IN WOONSOCKET TO RECEIVE A MARRIAGE LICENSE “ It ’ s been thirty-four years . We ’ re still together . We have been beaten up in public restaurants . We have been discriminated against for who we are . We have been vandalized against . Our homes have been damaged . But we are still here .” — Richard Hallee-Griffin “ I was working from home when the same-sex marriage vote came up in the State House . Larry was calling me every ten , fifteen minutes . On the last phone call he said , ‘ Did it pass ?’ and I said , ‘ Yup , it officially passed .’ Unbeknownst to me , he was sitting in his car in the driveway . The minute I said , ‘ Yes , it passed ,’ he walked into the house , got down on one knee and said , ‘ Marry me .’” — Richard Hallee-Griffin “ We are one , we are strong , we are scared , we are ridiculed , we are forgiving , we are loving , we are that we are , and what we are is in love .” — From a poem Larry Griffin wrote to Richard Hallee-Griffin when they started dating . Their daughter read the poem at Larry and Richard ’ s wedding .
3 REV . DR . DONNIE ANDERSON , MINISTER AND TRANSGENDER ACTIVIST WHO CAME OUT AT AGE SIXTY-NINE “ It got to the point where I thought , ‘ Before I die , I would like at least one person to know who I really am ,’ because it was depressing to think that I would live my whole life and who I really was would never be known .” 🆁
58 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l JUNE 2024