Roadmap to Victory

Freedom to Marry’s goal is to end the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage once and for all. Drawing on the history of other social justice movements in the United States, we know that victory will ultimately come from persuading either Congress or the Supreme Court to end marriage discrimination. To achieve that victory, we must secure the freedom to marry in a critical mass of states and grow majority support across the country. Our Roadmap to Victory [PDF] lays out the steps needed to win marriage nationwide:

Win More States

We secured the freedom to marry in six states and our Nation’s capital. Using the struggle against race discrimination in marriage as a measure, that is still far short of the 34 states that had ended race-based marriage discrimination when the Supreme Court ruled in Loving v. Virginia (1967). While there is no mathematical formula for the needed critical mass, we must win more states than we have now. Each year provides opportunities to win more states, overturn the anti-gay constitutional amendments pushed through over the past decade, and increase momentum for the freedom to marry.

To find out the state of the freedom to marry on the state level, visit Freedom to Marry's state page on marriage. 

Grow The Majority For Marriage

To create a climate that empowers elected officials and judges to do the right thing, we also need to grow and diversify majority support for the freedom to marry nationwide. Again using Loving as a measure, we are doing well, having moved from just about a quarter of public support 15 years ago to majority support today – far better than the 70% of Americans who opposed interracial marriage in 1967. Growing and diversifying the national majority for marriage will offset some of the challenges we face in winning states with anti-gay constitutional amendments. Freedom to Marry has tested the most effective messages to move hearts and minds, and through national public education and one-on-one conversations, we’re adding more supporters to the growing majority for marriage each year.

Read about the AP poll showing majority support for marriage. 

Read about the CNN poll showing majority support for marriage. 

To find more information on why marriage matters to same-sex couples, visit Freedom to Marry's page on why marriage matters. 

End Federal Marriage Discrimination

For same-sex couples to fully share in the freedom to marry, we must repeal the so-called “Defense of Marriage Act” and return the federal government to its longstanding practice of honoring marriage without a “gay exception.” We will do this both by creating the right climate for ongoing federal litigation challenging DOMA – through growing majority support for the freedom to marry and winning more states – and by pursuing congressional repeal.

To find out more about the federal landscape for the freedom to marry, visit Freedom to Marry's federal page on marriage.