Pro-Equality “Summer for Marriage” Drowns Out Anti-Gay Group’s Bus Tour
August 16, 2010
Pro-Equality “Summer for Marriage” Drowns Out Anti-Gay Group’s Bus Tour
Yesterday, equality advocates, Freedom to Marry and Courage Campaign, and the Anti-Gay National Organization for Marriage (NOM) concluded competing “Summer for Marriage” tours through 17 states and 23 cities at events in Washington D.C.
At each stop on the tour, marriage equality supporters organized by Freedom to Marry and dozens of local activist groups outnumbered NOM supporters by more than 3 to 1.
“In state after state, we demonstrated what a summer for marriage really looks like, by highlighting the stories of loving and committed same-sex couples, who do the work of marriage, who share similar challenges and similar joys as any couple, and whose families crave the personal significance and critical safety net that marriage brings,” said Freedom to Marry’s Executive Director Evan Wolfson. “And we ensured that the distractions, the distortions, and the discriminatory agenda of NOM did not go unanswered.”
To document the tour, Freedom to Marry partnered with the Courage Campaign Institute to launch www.nomtourtracker.com---a blog of first-hand analysis, photos from the road and interviews with both NOM and pro-equality supporters that’s attracted more than a million visitors and more than 15,000 comments.
“Over the past four weeks, www.nomtourtracker.com has told the stories of the millions of loving families across our country impacted by discrimination, while unmasking the dwindling public support for the divisive, anti-gayfringe,” said Courage Campaign Institute Founder and Chairman Rick Jacobs. “Nomtourtracker.com is a reflection of what the public saw out on the road--- a diverse coalition of clergy and families advocating for equality under the law contrasted with a smallgroup of extremists spreading lies, speaking in tongues, calling for the murder of gay people, and advocating 2ndClass citizenship for millions of American families.”
The tour’s conclusion comes less than two weeks after anhistoric federal court ruling striking down California’s Proposition 8, andjust days after a CNN/OpinionResearch poll that showed a majority of Americans supporting marriage equality for LGBT families for the first time.
"Freedom to Marry is proud of what we accomplished this summer with the Courage Campaign and our local partners across the country,” Wolfson added. "As we continue to buildon the momentum of the historic Prop 8 ruling, we will continue to show thatthe freedom to marry helps families, hurts no one, and is rooted in our nation’s core promise of liberty and equal protection for everyone."
“Five states, the District of Columbia and now the federal courts have recognized that marriage equality helps families and hurts no one,” Jacobs added. "The extraordinary stories we’ve captured at nomtourtracker.com are the beginning of a multi-year effort to acceleratepublic opinion in support of all loving American families, while holding the political fringe accountable for stoking the fires of prejudice with lies and fear.”