Lesbian Grandmothers From Mars; Ok, Only One of Them Hails From Butler County. But They're Coming -- To Say Same-Sex Marriage Is Fine

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"We have met three groups," says [CARRIE ROSS-STONE]. "The one type is vocally opposed to the point of protesting us with signs -- mean, disgusting signs. Then there is that group that's silent but feels that way too. Then there is the third group of fence-sitters who just don't know what to believe. That's where I think we're making a difference. They're most interested in our story. We certainly do not look like the negative stereotypes [of lesbians] that are being slung about. In some cases we're told we don't even look like grandmothers." (Well, they're new grandmothers, with a grandson only one year old.)

"Plus," she adds, "when we describe to people what protections we want, people are surprised that we don't have them" -- that is, the more than 1,000 privileges, from tax breaks to rights of inheritance, that married couples now enjoy and homosexual couples are denied. "It's very scary to us," says Ross-Stone. "What if one of us gets sick? Maybe we won't be able to make health-care decisions for one another. We stand to lose everything, so we decided to do something."

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Lesbian Grandmothers From Mars; Ok, Only One of Them Hails From Butler County. But They're Coming -- To Say Same-Sex Marriage Is Fine

CARRIE ROSS-STONE sits in Springfield, Ohio, talking about lesbian marriage in a town whose name so screams heartland that The Simpsons are set in one.

How is the slow-moving soul ...

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