WATCH: PSA from ‘Familia es Familia’ highlights importance of the freedom to marry
June 10, 2013
Today, Familia es Familia, the national campaign that aims to increase support for LGBT members of the Latino community through partnership with nationally recognized Latino-based organizations, released a new public education video that highlights the importance of the freedom to marry for same-sex couples. The video features civil rights leader Dolores Huerta. Watch the PSA here:
Dolores Huerta, a longtime labor leader and activist who co-founded the National Farmworkers Association, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama. She reflected on her participation in the ad this morning. She said:
Marriage matters for the same reasons to all people, gay or straight. And it's our responsibility to support inclusion of our gay and lesbian friends and family members in the important institution of marriage. I'm happy to be a part of the marriage movement and to continue the push for all loving and committed couples' freedom to marry.
Sergio Lopez, the Director of Latino Programming for Freedom to Marry, thanked Dolores Huerta for her commitment to Familia es Familia. He said:
As a champion for fairness and freedom throughout her whole life, Dolores Huerta is the perfect person to make the case for the freedom to marry to the Latino community. Her commitment to telling the stories of diverse groups of people in order to end discrimination is what the country needs as we await rulings from the Supreme Court on two landmark marriage cases by the end of this month. It's time to start talking about the freedom to marry among our Latino friends and family.
Polling of Americans about the freedom to marry consistently finds that Latinos strongly support marriage for same-sex couples, with an October poll by NBC showing that 60% of Latinos are supportive. A separate poll by Latino Decisions found that 64% of Latino voters believe that comprehensive immigration reform should include the same rights for same-sex couples as opposite-sex couples.