Freedom to Marry

As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments this week in two historic same-sex marriage cases -- one challenging California's ban on gay marriage, and the other challenging the federal Defense of Marriage Act -- supporters and opponents of marriage equality are stepping up their cases in the court of public opinion. [ Read more → ]

WASHINGTON – A new report released Tuesday by Freedom to Marry and Third Way, found that state legislators who vote in favor of marriage for same-sex couples overwhelmingly win voter support when running for reelection. [ Read more → ]

The Respect for Marriage Coalition on Wednesday launched a national advertising campaign featuring prominent bipartisan leaders – including President Barack Obama, Former Vice President Dick Cheney, Former First Lady Laura Bush, and Former Secretary of Defense Colin Powell – speaking out in support of marriage for gay and lesbian Americans. [ Read more → ]

The first national, public opinion poll of 2013 on marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples, released Tuesday by the Respect for Marriage Coalition, found that a growing bipartisan majority of registered voters support marriage rights. [ Read more → ]

Freedom to Marry, a national marriage equality advocacy organization, announced Thursday it plans to raise and invest $2 million through its "Win More States Fund," aimed at passing marriage bills in several states across the country. [ Read more → ]

Mayors from across the country on Friday attended a reception during the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ annual D.C. meeting to commemorate the first anniversary of a campaign that features city executives who support marriage rights for same-sex couples. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Philadelphia Mayor... [ Read more → ]

The Washington Blade has learned that Freedom to Marry has formed a political action committee that will allow it to raise money to defend Maryland’s same-sex marriage law, a change of course from earlier this year when the organization declined to join the coalition of groups defending the law. [ Read more → ]

A group of LGBT advocacy organizations on Thursday launched the "United for Marriage" campaign, a national effort to recruit volunteers for the state marriage campaigns. [ Read more → ]

The fight to include a marriage equality plank in the 2012 Democratic Party platform is heating up as one LGBT advocate drew on support from Democratic governors and the late Sen. Ted Kennedy in testimony urging platform committee members to adopt such language. [ Read more → ]

WASHINGTON -- Leading LGBT advocacy organizations on Monday widely criticized a study released by right-wing conservative author Mark Regnerus of the Department of Sociology and Population Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin, that made several claims of negative outcomes for children raised by gay and lesbian parents. [ Read more → ]

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A proposed amendment to undo Ohio’s 2004 constitutional ban on same-sex marriage ban was submitted Thursday to the state Attorney General. The amendment would change the state's Constitution to read that the definition of marriage would be “a union of two consenting adults, regardless of gender.” [ Read more → ]

TRENTON, N.J. -- New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie on Friday afternoon vetoed a bill approved by the state legislature that would legalize same-sex marriage -- just six hours after it reached his desk. [ Read more → ]

Jeremy Hooper at Good As You calls our attention to Sunday's televised "debate" on same-sex marriage between Freedom to Marry President Evan Wolfson and National Organization for Marriage President Brian Brown. [ Read more → ]

WASHINGTON – A broad coalition of more than 50 civil rights, labor, progressive, faith, student, health, legal, women’s, and LGBT organizations on Thursday announced support of the Respect for Marriage Act-- the bill to repeal the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that withholds federal... [ Read more → ]

WASHINGTON -- "Freedom to Marry," a New York-based marriage equality advocacy organization, on Friday announced a bipartisan coalition of more than 80 mayors from across the U.S. who have publicly stated their support for marriage equality for LGBT citizens, and their intention to work toward that goal. [ Read more → ]

One leading advocate called 2011 an “epic” year for marriage equality. Was it? While only one state -- New York -- enacted full marriage rights for same-sex couples, it was the most populous state to do so. Five other states also moved closer to marriage equality than ever before. Public opinion shifted dramatically towards supporting equality. And the Obama administration announced that it no longer considers a key part of the Defense of Marriage Act constitutional. [ Read more → ]

California’s largest gay rights advocacy group on Wednesday announced it would not lead a ballot campaign to undo Proposition 8, the state’s voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage. [ Read more → ]

Leading Republican and Democratic pollsters on Wednesday released a new analysis of polling data spanning more than a decade that reveals a dramatic shift in public attitudes on the freedom to marry for same-sex couples. [ Read more → ]

Winning the freedom to marry in New York is without a doubt a watershed moment for our country and our campaign. [ Read more → ]

A New York state Senate vote on whether to legalize same-sex marriage has been pushed back at least another day as the debate continues over religious exemptions, while hundreds of demonstrators on Monday rallied for and against the measure at the state capitol in Albany. [ Read more → ]