Freedom to Marry lauds HUD Secretary Donovan for supporting marriage

By Angela Dallara
Nov 17, 2011 at 12:55 pm

Freedom to Marry founder and President Evan Wolfson praised U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan for becoming the first sitting cabinet secretary to announce support for the freedom to marry.

Secretary Donovan announced his support at a dinner for the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) on Tuesday night, and subsequently clarified his position in an exclusive interview with Metro Weekly. Yesterday, Wolfson issued the following statement in response:

“I think Secretary Donovan – like a majority of Americans – understands that ending marriage discrimination would help families, while hurting no one.   In these tough economic times, we all want to protect and take care of our loved ones, and gay couples need the safety-net that marriage brings.  New York did the right thing to celebrate love and commitment, and end exclusion and unfair denial of the freedom to marry.  It is time that President Obama join Secretary Donovan as part of the nationwide majority for marriage.”

In March, Freedom to Marry launched its “Say I Do” campaign urging President Obama to support the freedom to marry for gay and lesbian couples.  Since then, more than 118,000 Americans have signed its Open Letter to the President. Click here to sign the letter if you haven’t yet!