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For many same-sex couples, February is a time when they reflect on love and on justice. On Valentine's Day, as many celebrated the love and commitment they have for each other, they also took note of the continued discrimination they face.

For me, there is one question that keeps coming up. When is it enough?

The question is not when is the love between two people enough so that they are finally recognized, but when is it enough for people to take a stand for what is right?

Is it when, after a decade of working on politically amenable strategies, the state of Arizona still refuses to provide domestic-partner health benefits to its employees?

Is it when my friend's son is turned away from a faith-based school because the board of directors does not approve of a family that is made up of two mommies?

Is it when a couple leaves the state because it won't legally recognize two mothers or two fathers as equal parents of children they raised together?

Is it when a family refuses to acknowledge a relationship of 35-plus years by taking away the property the couple shared after one of them dies? Or when a government or corporation refuses to give the life partner a pension or survivor benefits?

When is it enough?

These, and other indignities, happen to Arizona same-sex couples daily. They happen to couples from all walks of life, businesspeople, health-care professionals, community leaders, teachers, service-industry personnel, homemakers, people of faith, parents, couples living a quiet life, activists, seniors, middle-age people; in short, they happen to real people.

And this year, these couples will have to stand up against extremists who not only want to impose their version of faith on the rest of Arizonans, but who also want to write discrimination into the Arizona Constitution.

Ironically, the mean-spirited, misnamed "Protect Marriage Arizona" initiative that these extremists hope to place on the November ballot not only will hurt same-sex couples, it also will strip away any legal recognition of unmarried couples — gay or straight. If it passes, domestic partners of those who work for Pima County or the cities of Tucson, Phoenix, Scottsdale or Tempe will lose medical and other benefits. The Tucson Domestic Partner Registry will be voided. Unmarried couples will lose the ability to visit their loved ones in a hospital and be barred from making medical decisions.

It may even result in domestic-violence laws being overturned. In Ohio, where a similar amendment passed, a man who beat his girlfriend had a reduced sentence because the judge ruled that domestic-violence laws no longer applied to unmarried couples. And, in Utah, a protective order was challenged by a defense lawyer for a man who continued to show up at a former girlfriend's home.

What does it take to drive people into exceptional leadership and finally say enough is enough?

Often it is one person who is just willing to take a stand: former Tucson Mayor George Miller, who established the Tucson GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender) Commission after the horrific hate-crime death of Matthew Shepard, paving the way for the Tucson Domestic Partner Registry. Or University of Arizona President Peter Likins, who made it possible for the UA to offer tuition waivers to same-sex couples.

But it's also groups like Arizona Together, a coalition formed by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and straight individuals and groups who have a strong sense of social justice. Members include faith-based and civil-rights groups, as well as nonpartisan organizations like Wingspan, the Arizona Human Rights Fund, the Arizona Psychological Association and the Arizona Public Health Association. Galvanized by the proposed amendment, Arizona Together members are encouraging people to refuse to sign the petition initiative that ultimately will hurt Arizona's families. They are asking Arizonans to say "Enough."