A Note from Evan Wolfson
In my previous E-Update Note, I talked about why we, understandably, are losing the unfairly premature and preemptive votes that the anti-gay industry, aligned to the White House, are mounting in their ongoing state-by-state wave of assaults on constitutions. And I promised that I would use this week's Note to set forth what our side's campaign message should be in these election battles — not just to lay the groundwork for greater understanding and victory over time, but also to have even a hope of winning on the short-term election timeframe that presents a nearly insuperable challenge to a minority in the early stages of a civil rights conversation.
In visits this past week to Virginia, where gay families are currently under attack, and Kentucky, where advocates of fairness are regrouping following the assault in 2004, I underscored the importance of using these early battles as a chance to give non-gay people the message that this is not a freebie vote on how they feel in the abstract about marriage or about gays in Massachusetts. Rather, we need to help the reachable-but-not-yet-reached understand that this question of marriage equality is about how discriminatory laws are treating couples and children right there at home in South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Wisconsin, or any other community or state. We must make our appeal to them personal (why I care enough to ask you to care), local (this is about people here who are being hurt), and persistent (I trust you're a good person and I am going to engage with you and address your concerns as you think it through), giving them the information and time to absorb it that will allow them to push past discomfort and rise to fairness.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF EVAN’S NOTE.
Follow developments in the movement for marriage equality on our website, and in future issues of Freedom to Marry's bi-monthly E-Update.
Reports from the Front
Children of lesbian and gay parents speak out about the freedom to marry
With National Coming Out Day upon us, COLAGE (Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere) is working to ensure that the voices of young people are heard, talking about their families and how the denial of marriage and respect affects their parents and their own lives.
Tune in to the COLAGE Radio Tour and hear COLAGErs Dakota Fine, Marina Gatto and Emily McGranachan talk about the joys of a diverse family life and the urgency they see in our work for the freedom to marry. This week you can hear COLAGErs on: Wednesday, Oct. 11th, 10:30—10:39 a.m. ET with Marina Gatto, 10:40—10:49 a.m. ET, and with Dakota Fine on WMFN-FM in Tampa, FL.
Hear Dakota Fine again on Friday, Oct. 13th from 12:20—12:40 p.m. ET on The Frankie Boyer Show on WBNW-AM in Boston and nationally on Lifestyle Talk Radio Network.
Tune in to National Public Radio in Duluth, MN, on Monday, Oct. 16th, from 9:35—9:50 a.m. ET to hear Marina Gatto again discussing the importance of marriage equality and fairness for all American families. This interview can also be heard on WOJB-FM in Superior, WI.
Log in to our website to keep up with Freedom to Marry News, and for more information on upcoming COLAGE Radio Tour interviews.
Click here to read the full report.
Thanks to Meredith Fenton, COLAGE Program Director, for her input and assistance.
Freedom to Marry Voice of Equality Marina Gatto receives prestigious award
Freedom to Marry’s youngest Voice of Equality, 18-year-old Marina Gatto was recently awarded the Hispanic Heritage Foundation Youth Award for community service in recognition of her work as an advocate for equal rights, especially the freedom to marry.
As the daughter of lesbian parents, Gatto has already spent several years advocating for gay rights. Gatto recently took part in the nationally televised 20th Annual Hispanic Heritage Awards at The John F. Kennedy Center fro the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
"The Hispanic Heritage Foundation is an utterly amazing and wonderful organization that has taken the lead in acknowledging the importance of recognizing the importance of working together for a better world,” said Gatto.
“They are paving the way for other organizations to follow in their actions,” she continued. “I am honored that I have been chosen and identified as one of the top Latino youth leaders in the nation to represent them, and proud that they honor and value my work as an LGBT rights activist."
The Latest News
For the latest news, opinions, and polls, including these articles, check out our website.
NY's Spitzer ties marriage equality to civil rights
Buffalo News
October 6, 2006
Eliot Spitzer paired marriage equality and protection of religion in a speech Thursday as part of "core values" and a commitment to civil rights that should draw people together, rather than divide them.
Law school hosts marriage debate
The Cavalier Daily
October 6, 2006
State Delegate Bob Marshall (R) debated Evan Wolfson at the University of Virginia on the freedom to marry and the anti-gay state amendment he sponsored, VA going before voters in November. "I thought Wolfson did a better job with orating in the realm of the concrete," second-year college student Carianne King said.
RI couples now can marry in MA — but will RI recognize their unions?
Findlaw
October 3, 2006
What happens when a Rhode Island couple comes home married and wants their marriage treated equally, with respect, under the law? State Attorney General, Patrick Lynch has observed correctly that "[o]nly the Rhode Island legislature or a Rhode Island court can decide if same-sex marriage is valid in Rhode Island." RI advocates work now to end discrimination at home.
