Spending the Fourth of July weekend at my parents' retirement community has me reflecting on what my retirement will look like. Whether at their Florida retirement community or the North Carolina one (they change residences based on the temperature), I always find myself walking their neighborhoods looking at the different style houses and picking out the one I would get if I was in retirement. Of course, it is always something different from my parents’ house.

At Atlanta Pride every year, there are always a few queer retirement communities looking for prospective retirees to buy into their communities. I always thought it was cool for those retiring sometime soon, but I really thought it wouldn’t be needed by the time I retire. I am fairly optimistic about our future and had thought we would be far enough along the road to equality and acceptance that my wife and I would live in an integrated community of straights and queers.

I started the MEGA Family Project over six years ago with the notion that LGBT couples should be afforded the right to marry our same-sex partners, and receive the same rights, benefits, and obligations that our straight counterparts receive through the institution of marriage. Living in a conservative state like Georgia, I have no illusion that marriage equality is coming here any time soon.