U.S. Census Refuses to Count All Families
The Mercury News reported over the weekend, "The U.S. Census Bureau, reacting to the federal Defense of Marriage Act and other mandates, plans to edit the 2010 census responses of same-sex couples who marry legally in California, Massachusetts or any other state." Rather than counting all families, the Census Bureau will reassign married gay and lesbian couples as "unmarried partners" resulting in all families not being accounted for as federal programs receive money and support from the government. As the blog Leonard Link notes, "a marriage is a marriage, and should be counted as such."
- Learn more about how marriage matters to children and families
- Protect happiness and the freedom to marry in California
Quote of the Week
"It's impossible to say you're a 'pro-family' politician and then vote to relegate some families to second-class status."
—Steve Ralls, The Huffington Post, 7/8/08
Wolfson discusses what's to come with fairness in California in a two part series in EDGE Boston: "The influence that this [California] decision will have in helping Americans to see families helped and no one hurt couldn't be bigger." (USA Today reports six in 10 Americans (63%) say the government should not regulate whether gays and lesbians can marry the people they choose. (Link)
In a Joint Advisory with national gay rights legal and advocacy organizations,Freedom to Marry counsels couples getting married in California that there are many ways to work to see your marriage respected and win the freedom to marry nationwide, and one way -- filing ill-timed lawsuits -- that can have more negative consequences. (pdf advisory)
The Voices of Equality Program is a national high profile strategic speakers bureau and media ambassadors program that seeks to advance messages of marriage equality through prominent civic leaders to targeted populations. The Voices of Equality Program consists of a 2-person team that will include program management, talent booking, and media advocacy functions.
