I was really pleased to see that, on July 11, the Sun Journal published an article that indicated “57 percent would back same-sex marriage.”

The issue of equality in marriage in Maine is one that affects us all. It saddens me that the basic declarations of this country are not being honored.

If all men are created equal and there is liberty and justice for all, then I want my friends, my sisters and brothers to be afforded the same rights as everyone else.

It is not fair that gay people aren’t allowed the same freedoms and have so many federal privileges unavailable to them because of who they choose to love.

I have a friend who works in New York City and lives with her wife in New Jersey. She has had to get married in both places and her rights are still not guaranteed federally.

She has to pay more for something as simple as a will and trust because all of the laws that grant rights use the term marriage. This is inequitable.

That is just the tip of the iceberg of inequality.

In the pursuit of happiness for all, I urge support of basic freedoms by voting for equality in Maine this November.

Piper Macleod, Augusta