Our Story

David Sikma

Jeff and David

My partner and I have been together for three years and counting. We are currently building a home, we have loving families, we have one cat and we are members of a Christian church in Indianapolis. We are law-abiding, tax-paying Hoosiers, and by all accounts, a typical young couple. The difference between us and the "typical young couple" is we are the same sex. Indiana does not recognize relationships between people of the same sex and considers same-sex partners to be legal strangers. Both of us were born in Indiana, we both went to college in Indiana, and we plan to stay in the state of Indiana as long as we can make change for the better. We would like nothing more than to be each other's husband.

We rejoice the fact that Massachusetts has offered legal recognition defining marriage as the union between two consenting adults, not the union of two consenting opposite-sex adults as does every other state in the union currently. Marriage is important to us because we have been together for years and have made the commitment to each other and to God that we would like to be joined in a Holy union, the sacrament of marriage.

We are politically active in equal rights issues for all Hoosiers, and all Americans. It is imperative that we lobby to our Councilors, Representatives, Senators and other government officials in the demand for equal rights. Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) Hoosiers have no protection when it comes to housing, employment or education. The City County Council of Indianapolis/Marion County voted on this measure in April and it did not pass to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of protected classes in the Human Rights Ordinance. Hopefully these Councilors will understand the severity of the current laws on GLBT persons when this comes up for vote again.

Both of us were raised in Christian homes, Jeff was raised Baptist and David was raised Christian Reformed. We struggled with our homosexuality and religion at least some time in our past due to the fact that non-affirming churches claim that being gay is a sin and that we should be changed. However, we firmly believe that we belong where we are today in our lives with God's love and protection. God has a perfect plan for His GLBT children just as He does for His straight children.

Jeff and David are a family! We should be granted the equal rights and protections that heterosexual families receive and can take for granted every day. We are looking forward to the day when we can say "My husband and I have been together for several years and counting!"

David and Jeff