On the Horizon
 Marriage case heads to NJ Supreme Court
Lambda Legal's case seeking equal marriage rights for lesbian and gay couples in New Jersey is schedule for a hearing just in time for Freedom to Marry Week. Oral arguments in Lewis v. Harris will begin at 10:00am on Wednesday, February 15th. "The time is long overdue for over 16,000 same-sex couples throughout New Jersey to see the end of the discrimination that hurts their families," said David Buckel, Marriage Project Director at Lambda Legal and lead attorney on the case. Susan Sommer, Senior Counsel at Lambda Legal is also on the case.
As a powerful demonstration that New Jersey is ready for an end to the unfair exclusion of lesbian and gay couples from marriage, Garden State Equality, under Steven Goldstein's leadership, has been able to turn out record numbers of gay and non-gay New Jersey families, clergy and community leaders in town halls, community gatherings, and legislative events.
Continuing in that tradition, Garden State Equality will host a rally the night before hearings begin, on Tuesday, February 14, at the Bnai Keshet Reconstructionist Synagogue. Thousands are expected to attend and speak out for fairness and equality for all families. Recent polling by Garden State Equality/Zogby showed New Jerseyans in support of equal marriage for gay couples 55-40%.
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Landscape
Storytelling
All across the country, in every state, in many families, citizens are talking honestly and thoughtfully about why marriage matters to all of our families. There is no better way to communicate who we are and the depths of our commitment to our partners and our families than by telling the truth of our lives.
In 2006, with the help of our new and improved Story Center, a joint project of Freedom to Marry and the ACLU, telling our stories just got easier. Launched just this year, the newly updated Story Center will help us gather information, and spread the word about the hardships lesbian and gay couples, their kids and their families and friends face due to continued discrimination in marriage.
The simple process of story-telling is one way each generation passes on its wisdom. Our stories help us communicate, in concrete ways, how the denial of marriage harms families. For a list of the protections that come with marriage -- protections you and your loved ones are deprived of because you can't get married -- click here. Sharing our stories and showing our faces also helps the rest of America identify with our need to hold ourselves accountable to the promise of liberty, fairness and equality for all.
As we continue to offer our family, friends and neighbors the information they need to understand this important equal rights movement and the time to process that information, it is important that we also ask for their support as we fight against discrimination and in support of basic fairness for our families. Each one of us has a unique experience that is valuable to moving our nation closer to equality. When our families, friends and neighbors are given the truth about the real harm caused by marriage discrimination, they are able to see past the false distractions and put a human face to the issue. This year, spread the word about the easy-to-use Story Center and encourage those you know to share their voices and faces with the movement, and log on yourself. Let's show our communities the faces they know, love and can easily identify with -- our own.
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Freedom to Marry welcomes the New Year
New Senior Web Producer, new D.C. office
Freedom to Marry, geared up and ready for the new year, is proud to welcome Heather Jensen to our team as our new Senior Web Producer. Heather is a publications, design, and new media specialist dedicated to the nonprofit and social service sectors. She got her start ten years ago as Managing Editor with Essential Information, a nonprofit organization founded by Ralph Nader to provide information to the public on topics neglected by the mass media and policy makers. Her interest in social justice and belief in the importance of information-sharing has continued to this day.
Active in the LGBT, arts, and activist communities in Washington, DC, Heather previously worked with An Uncommon Legacy, Positive Force, Art-O-Matic, and the Future of Music Coalition. In 2003, she moved to New Jersey where she continues to volunteer her services to a number of arts and action groups. Heather lives in Asbury Park, NJ, with her partner Amy Quinn and their ten year old dog Baily.
As she completes her transition to pursue graduate studies, everyone on the Freedom to Marry team extends our warmest thanks to Jayme del Rosario for her dedicated work revamping our website, launching our E-Updates, updating our Story Center and so much more. Thank you, Jayme! To learn more about our staff members and our Steering Committee, visit the About Us section of our website.
Freedom to Marry has also just opened a new Washington, DC, office. Lisbeth Meléndez Rivera, our Mobilization Coordinator, moved in to the new space and got to work early in January. We are thrilled with the convenient location which will help us work closer with our allies and partner organizations located in the nation's capital.
Our new D.C. office is located at 1325 Massachusetts Ave. Suite 700, Washington, DC, 20005. The new numbers are: Tel: (202) 824-0652; Fax: (301) 576-3851. Lisbeth Meléndez Rivera can still be reached via email at lisbeth@freedomtomarry.org.
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Expert says WI anti-gay amendment a bad idea
As we gear up for the new year, a robust debate and numerous conversations are helping our nation, in Lincoln's words, "think anew" about how we are treating each other, our families, friends, neighbors and fellow citizens. As a diverse community of gay couples, and their families, seek inclusion and equality, it is important to ensure that a wide variety of our stories are told.