Freedom to Marry

Freedom to Marry

Formation	2003
Type	501(c)(3)
Purpose	Same-sex marriage
Headquarters	New York City
Founder	Evan Wolfson
Website	freedomtomarry.org

Freedom to Marry is an organization which campaigns for the right of same-sex couples to marry in the United States. Freedom to Marry was founded in New York City in 2003 by Evan Wolfson, whom many consider to be the father of the modern marriage movement.

According to its “Roadmap to Victory”, Freedom to Marry is working "to end the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage" by winning same-sex marriage for more states, growing the national majority support for same-sex marriage, and repealing the Defense of Marriage Act a law it sees as discriminatory.

Activities

Federal campaign to repeal DOMA

Freedom to Marry is pursuing a federal campaign to increase the number of supporters for the Respect for Marriage Act, the bill that would overturn the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defines marriage as being between one man and one woman under federal law. Freedom to Marry has partnered with other organizations including Equality Maryland, Marriage Equality Rhode Island, Courage Campaign, and Ocean Station Action in its efforts to reach members of Congress. The organization garnered a petition with 3,000 signatures from Maryland residents to pressure Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland to co-sponsor the bill. Currently, the groups are lobbying Sens. Bob Casey, Jack Reed, and Susan Collins to support the bill. Republican lobbyist Kathryn Lehman, of the law firm Holland & Knight, helped Freedom to Marry's efforts to overturn DOMA in June 2013.

New York campaign

Freedom to Marry was involved in the legalization of same-sex marriage in New York in 2011. Freedom to Marry was one of the founders of New Yorkers United for Marriage, a coalition of New York LGBT organizations that worked for the legalization. Taking on a key leadership role in guiding the coalition’s work, Freedom to Marry spent over $1,000,000 on television and newspaper ads, direct mail, and polling in the effort.

"Say, 'I Do'"

In March 2011, the organization launched an open letter calling on Barack Obama to support same-sex marriage. Over 122,000 people signed their names to the letter, including numerous celebrities, civic leaders, and entrepreneurs. The campaign ended on May 9, 2012, when President Obama became the first sitting president of the United States to say he supports marriage for same-sex couples.

Why Marriage Matters

"Why Marriage Matters" is Freedom to Marry’s national public education campaign. The campaign was launched on February 14, 2011 The Why Marriage Matters project includes videos and stories from real people and real facts about why marriage matters.

Summer for Marriage

File:Summer4marriage-final.png

In 2010, Freedom to Marry launched their “Summer for Marriage” campaign countering the National Organization for Marriage’s “One Man, One Woman” bus tour. Sean Eldridge stated “Our goal is to demonstrate that there are loving, committed same-sex couples across the US who deserve, and in some states now have, the protections and the responsibilities of marriage. We’re not going to let NOM get away with distracting from and distorting the truth about our families and the protections that we need.”

File:Freedom to Marry in 2006 by David Shankbone.jpg

Freedom to Marry in 2006

Democrats: Say I Do

Main article: Democrats: Say I Do

In February 2012, Freedom to Marry launched a campaign to persuade Democratic Party politicians to adopt an inclusion of same-sex marriage as part of the party platform at the 2012 Democratic National Convention. The campaign contributed to outspoken support from 22 Democratic Senators, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Chair of the Democratic National Convention Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, Caroline Kennedy and nine other co-chairs of President Obama's reelection campaign, and more than 40,000 Americans who added their names to Freedom to Marry's online petition. On July 29, the Democratic Party Platform Drafting Committee included a plank supporting same-sex marriage in the first draft of their party platform. The draft was ratified at the Democratic National Convention in September, making the Democratic Party the first major U.S. political party to officially support marriage for same-sex couples in the national party platform.

Mayors for Marriage

In January 2012, Freedom to Marry launched the Mayors for the Freedom to Marry campaign (also known as Mayors for Marriage), encouraging mayors of cities throughout the United States to endorse marriage equality for their localities. Nearly 300 mayors have joined the campaign. In January 13, San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, and West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon published a column, Gay marriage a question of justice, in USA Today.

Win More States Fund

In March 2012, Freedom to Marry launched the "Win More States Fund," which identified battleground states to direct funding toward in order to approve same-sex marriage or stop same-sex marriage from being banned. The states for 2012 were New Hampshire, Maine, Washington, Minnesota, New Jersey, and later Maryland. The goal was to raise at least $3 million to funnel into the state campaigns. The organization met this initial goal in early August 2012 and continued working to raise funds on behalf of the states. All six of the states in the Win More States Fund experienced successes in 2012 - with Maine, Maryland, and Washington passing marriage at the ballot during the November 2012 election, Minnesota blocking an anti-gay amendment, New Hampshire staving off a measure to repeal the marriage bill, and New Jersey passing a marriage bill through the state legislature.

In February 2013, the organization launched the second round of states for the Win More States Fund with a goal of raising and investing $2 million into the campaigns to win marriage in Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey and Rhode Island.

Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry

Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry is a campaign to highlight and build support for the freedom to marry among young conservatives across America. They represent young conservatives across the country that agree all Americans should be able to share in the freedom to marry. Notable members of Young Conservatives Leadership Committee include S.E. Cupp, Abby Huntsman, and Meghan McCain. The effort is managed by conservative activist Tyler Deaton.

On June 4, 2014 the campaign launched a national effort to "reform the RNC platform." The "reform the platform" campaign launched in New Hampshire, consisting of a plan focused on the presidential primary states and "leading up to the Republican National Convention in 2016.”

See also

• LGBT rights in the United States
• List of LGBT rights organizations

Further reading

• The Atlantic Monthly, "The Marriage Plot: Inside This Year's Epic Campaign for Gay Equality," December 2012
• New York Times, "Evan Wolfson and Cheng He: Vows," October 2011
• The Advocate, "Op-Ed: For Evan Wolfson, an 'I Do' Filled With 'I Did', October 2011
• U.S. News & World Report, "Without Nationwide Gay Marriage, U.S. Government Discriminates, October 2011
• TIME Magazine, "After New York: The (Near) Future of Gay Marriage, July 2011
• Huffington Post, "The Freedom to Marry: What's Next After New York?, June 2011
• The Advocate, "Freedom to Marry Announces Expansion Plans," January 2011
• The Economist, "Single-Sex Marriage: This house believes that gay marriage should be legal," January 2011
• Pacific Daily News, "Civil rights attorney promotes gay marriage", December 2010
• Los Angeles Times, "Gains outweigh setback in landmark year for gay rights," December 2010
• The Sunday Business Post, "A Very Civil Defense", December 2010
• The Advocate, "The Message from Iowa", November 2010
• Fox News, "Judges Ouster Stirs Debate", November 2010
• New Jersey Record, "Seizing the Moment", October 2010
• Anderson Cooper 360, "Same-Sex Marriage Ban Overturned", August 2010
• The New York Times, "Ted Olson's Supreme Court Adventure", August 2009

External links

• Official website
• Mayors For The Freedom To Marry
• Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry

• ((cite news|url=http://www.advocate.com/politics/marriage-equality/2013/01/18/mayors-marriage-equality-group-grows-threefold-first-year |title=Mayors' Marriage Equality Group Grows Threefold |date=January 18, 2013 |work=The Advocate))