A gay father's open letter to Justice
Antonin Scalia has gone viral.
Jack Montgomery of the District of
Columbia wrote of his experience raising three adoptive children with
his husband Kelly Vielmo.
Montgomery posted his letter online. A
video of him reading the letter along with images of his family had
been viewed nearly 10,000 times on YouTube.com as of Tuesday.
“Dear Justice Scalia as well as your
distinguished peers serving on the Supreme Court,” Montgomery's
letter starts.
“With the cases being heard in the
Supreme Court this week our family is now on debate at the national
level. One comment that stuck with me was the speculation of
potential 'deleterious' effect of kids having same-sex parents.”
“Children who are placed in the care
of foster systems throughout this nation have suffered from either
the neglect or the abuse of their biological families. For all
intents and purposes, we will call this deleterious parenting. Sadly
my children were born into these circumstances.”
“As you prepare your response on
Proposition 8 and DOMA you now have the opportunity to decide what
further obstacles will face these children. What are the deleterious
effects your decision will have on my children?”
Montgomery concludes: “I accept that
the stares our family receives walking down the street on a daily
basis elicits both judgment and inspiration. What I do not accept is
that the United States of America is willing to devalue my childrens'
family more than others and have a separate grouping of laws and
benefits. I pray that as you rule on these cases that you keep
Cardel (6), Raine (4), and Ravyn (3) in your hearts and do all in
your power to keep deleterious obstacles from their lives.” (The
video is embedded on this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
(On the Net: DearSCOTUS.com.)