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MARRIAGE EQUALITY LEADER DEBATES VIRGINIA ANTI-GAY AMENDMENT SPONSOR

WHAT:

Virginia Delegate Bob Marshall, co-sponsor of the proposed amendment, and Evan Wolfson, Executive Director of Freedom to Marry, will debate whether the Virginia Constitution should be amended to prohibit the legal recognition of, and benefits for, same-sex couples and their families.

WHEN:

Thursday, October 5, 4:30 PM

WHERE:

Caplin Pavilion, University of Virginia Law School

WHO:

Sponsored by The American Constitution Society and the ACLU Chapter at University of Virginia School of Law

New York, NY (September 29, 2006): As the debate over ending the exclusion of lesbian and gay couples from marriage continues around the country, and families in Virginia are wrestling with the challenge to their sense of fairness brought by a call to secure discrimination into their constitution, Evan Wolfson, executive Director of Freedom to Marry, prepares for a lively debate with outspoken Virginia Delegate Bob Marshall.

"The sponsors and supporters of the Marshall-Newman Amendment have yet to offer a single explanation as to why it is okay for the government to put obstacles in these Virginia couples' and kids' path," said Wolfson, author of Why Marriage Matters: America, Equality — Gay People's Right to Marry. "They are unable to explain how keeping these couples from marrying helps anyone else's marriage. It's not as if Virginia would run out of marriage licenses if more couples were able to wed."

"Not only does Mr. Marshall offer no answer to the question of what reason exists for denying these couples marriage," Wolfson continued, "his amendment, and his accompanying rhetoric, fail to even acknowledge the real question about its agenda and political purposes. The proposed constitutional amendment would limit gay and non-gay unmarried Virginians' ability to protect their loved ones by calling into question their rights to make contracts regarding property, guardianship of children and even medical decisions, along with countless other consequences."

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Freedom to Marry is the gay and non-gay partnership working to win marriage equality nationwide. Launched in 2003, Freedom to Marry is headed by Evan Wolfson, nationally recognized as a central "architect of the marriage equality movement." Freedom to Marry guides and focuses this social justice movement on a nationwide level, serving as a strategy and support center for national, state, and local partners, a catalyst that drives and shapes the national debate on marriage equality, and an alliance-builder fostering support from non-gay allies.