Heather Stood Up, 2009

Story #30: On this spot in 2009 Heather stood up for what she believed in.

Heather Tanguay used to attend church at The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. Heather also believes all people should have the right to marry. One day at church in 2009 Heather’s bishop said that gay marriage was a threat to the family. In the middle of a packed service Heather stood up and turned her back on the bishop for the entirety of his homily. She didn’t want her young son to see her accept these words. As Heather describes it no one looked at her, no one said a thing. Days and then years passed. She started to wonder if due to her short stature, no one had actually seen her stand up. Years later while canvassing to support marriage equality, she shared this story with another volunteer. The volunteer looked at her and said, “Oh you’re the one. We heard about you. We knew what you did”. Heather and her family worked on the Marriage Equality campaign in 2012. In 2012 Maine voted to allow same sex couples to marry. Heather continues to ask herself ‘when do you stand up’?