Rich and Gary of Northbridge, have been together for 16 years, and are parents of twelve-year-old Paige whom Gary adopted when she was an infant. Having completed a second-parent adoption, both men are the legal parents of Paige who is active in dance class, softball and other school activities.
The couple have lived in the Linnell family home since Rich's mother asked that they move in with her. Rich, 41, the youngest of 11 children, is a part-time nursing instructor and Emergency Room Nurse while he works toward his masters in nursing.
Gary, 39, teaches in the Shrewsbury schools where he was a student, and often finds he's teaching the children of parents who were his classmates. A team teacher for the last 17 years, Gary is active in the local PTA, and both parents chaperone field trips and participate in school fund-raising drives.
While Rich and Gary have large, extended families who support them and live in a community which respects and includes their family, they regularly face issues and expenses because they cannot legally marry. For example, when Rich returned to school, he lost his health benefits. The pair now pays for a family policy that only covers Gary and Paige, and another $300 monthly fee to the same HMO to secure coverage for Rich.
And as a parent, Gary believes Paige deserves the security and simplicity in life that comes with the marriage of her parents. "I shouldn't have to explain to my eleven-year-old daughter that her parents aren't married, but love each other very much and the three of us are a family," he says. "This shouldn't be a complicated conversation. We have the same concerns, the same routines as any other parents, and we should be recognized and treated in the same way."
Rich and Gary of Northbridge, have been together for 16 years, and are parents of twelve-year-old Paige whom Gary adopted when she was an infant. Having completed a second-parent adoption, both men are the legal parents of Paige who is active in dance class, softball and other school activities.