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Nine-year-old demands Congress back marriage equality

Lawmakers may want to rethink their plans of standing in marriage equality’s way — or else they’ll have 9-year-old Maggie to answer to.
Rose Roysden, right, and Beth Ridley hold hands and listen to an announcement that the U.S. Supreme Court was denying the state attorney general's request for a stay on lifting a ban on same sex marriage. (Photo by Andrea Morales/The New York Times/Redux)
Rose Roysden, right, and Beth Ridley hold hands and listen to an announcement that the U.S. Supreme Court was denying the state attorney general's request for a stay on lifting a ban on same sex marriage while they attempt to fill out a marriage license application at the in Florence, Ala., on Feb. 9, 2015.

Lawmakers may want to rethink their plans of standing in marriage equality’s way — or else they’ll have 9-year-old Maggie to answer to.

In a handwritten letter addressed to Congress, the Texas third grader had some tough questions for the group.

“Would you like it if someone wouldn’t let you get married to a person you love of your own gender? No. So why are you not letting people do that?” Maggie wrote.

“That needs to change, and it needs to change now,” she continued. And to prove she meant business, Maggie concluded her letter with this adorable threat: “Would you rather me send letters all year? Or you listen the first time? Your choice.”

RELATED: Red state warms up to marriage equality

The U.S. Supreme Court is set to consider the question of whether gay and lesbian couples have a constitutional right to wed later this year. That case is widely expected to yield a historic ruling for gay rights that effectively strikes down the remaining 13 bans on same-sex marriage.

Some marriage equality opponents, however, aren’t ready to give up the fight just yet. Earlier this month, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz — a potential 2016 contender — along with 11 other Republicans re-introduced the State Marriage Defense Act, which would allow states to adopt their own definitions of marriage. The bill’s sponsors can almost certainly expect an uphill battle ahead, as well as many more letters from Maggie.