When Amy Crampton was a Ball State University student, her sexuality wasn't something she wore on her sleeve.
"I was out to my close friends, but I certainly wasn't running around with a rainbow flag or anything," she said. "I didn't really consider myself closeted, but it wasn't something I readily shared."
Now the 1989 graduate and her partner of 12 years, Tonya Agnew, are putting their faces on the fight for same-sex marriage. Agnew and Crampton are competing with five other same-sex couples to win their dream wedding in Washington, D.C.
Crampton said that when Agnew suggested they enter the Freedom2Wed.com contest, which required submitting a short essay and a video, she wasn't sure if she wanted the exposure, especially since the couple has two sons.
"In the beginning, I was hesitant to put myself and the kids out there," she said. "But the contest gave us a platform to reach a broader base. Marriage equality is a very important issue."
Instead of backlash, the family received an overwhelming amount of support from their community in Lafayette, Ind. Crampton said. The couple is in first place by almost 1,600 votes.
Agnew attributed the lead to supportive friends, family and being involved in the community.
"We're out and visible in the community. We're really involved with our kids. People really resonate with the fact we're raising a family," she said.
The couple said they're shocked to be in the lead because some of the other couples are from metropolitan areas. The local support has helped them see a change in attitude toward homosexuality.
"A lot of the difficulties I thought we might face were inaccuracies from people's opinions that I heard growing up," Crampton said. "Opinions have changed with our [17-year-old] son's generation. I'm excited to see that and putting ourselves out there has been a fantastic experience."
The couple received some negative comments online about homosexuality being a morality issue after a local news station ran a story on them, but Agnew said she would challenge those people to meet her family.
"Even though they may think our lives are sinful, we believe in pretty conservative parenting and we have probably more rules for our kids than most people. We have the same challenges as other parents," she said. "The negativity we heard after the news story, some of it was quite hateful because people could post anonymously."
When people have their names attached to comments, they don't seem to be as negative, Agnew said. Most of the negative comments are about religion and none have been directed toward the family.
Agnew said her family is a big reason she wants to get married, even though her and Crampton's marriage won't be legally recognized in Indiana.
"We planned on doing this before the contest. It's not recognized here, but we still felt it was a way to show our commitment to each other and make a statement," she said. "If we can get married in D.C., our nation's capital, then why can't we do that anywhere?"
Agnew said if for some reason her family doesn't win, they will eventually get married on their own or have some type of celebration.
"We'd like to have a ceremony to recognize our relationship with friends and family," she said. "We've been together for 12 years, regardless, we're not going anywhere."
Voting ends at freedom2wed.com/vote on Thursday.
To see Agnew and Crampton's video and to vote:
http://freedom2wed.com/vote/
To see Agnew and Crampton's Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/VoteTonyaAmy?ref=ts
To follow Agnew and Crampton's Twitter:
http://twitter.com/Vote4TonyaNAmy
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