Watch This Out and Proud Nevada Senator Pop the Question
Nevada state Sen. Kelvin Atkinson is having a great week. After the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down marriage bans in Idaho and Nevada on Tuesday, the openly gay senator talked about the impact it would have on his own relationship.
Two years ago Atkinson and his partner, Sherwood Howard, registered as domestic partners “because that was the best thing we could do in the state,” Atkinson said. “I didn’t want to go to another state. I always felt I’d stay and I’d stick it out.”
Then, in front of a whole bunch of news cameras, he turned to Howard, whom he addressed as “Woody,” and popped the question.
This isn’t the first public gay milestone for Atkinson. Last year, during a vote over the definition of marriage, he announced, “I’m 44 years old. I have a daughter. I’m black. I'm gay.”
To the people arguing that gay marriage interferes with straight marriage, Atkinson said, “If this somehow interrupts your marriage, then your marriage was in trouble in the first place.”
When Atkinson came out, he was the third gay Democrat in the Nevada Senate. After that speech on the floor, some of his colleagues came up and hugged him, he said.
Though most of the people close to Atkinson already knew he was gay, his daughter didn’t find out until his Facebook page “blew up” when his comments went viral. Atkinson says she told him, “Dad, I’m proud of you. I love you.”
Atkinson told CNN that he and Howard want to be the first gay couple to get married in Nevada.
Related stories on TakePart:
• Fearless Gay Activists Who Fight for Freedom and Equality
• Still Opposed to Gay Marriage? Read These Inspiring Quotes From the Judges Who Are Legalizing It
Original article from TakePart
