FREEDOM TO MARRY WELCOMES "DREAM CANDIDATE" AS NEW PROGRAM DIRECTOR

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 30, 2006, New York, NY

PRESS CONTACT:
Samiya Bashir
Tel: 212-851-8418 x6, Mobile: 917-617-8660
Email: samiya@freedomtomarry.org

New York, NY (May 30, 2006): With work to end discrimination in marriage underway in more states than ever before, Freedom to Marry proudly announced today the appointment of Roey Thorpe to the pivotal position of Program Director.

"Roey is the dream candidate to work with Freedom to Marry's growing coalition of gay and non-gay voices, leaders, and families," said Executive Director Evan Wolfson. "She has a national vision as well as hands-on experience working on the frontlines in the states, and will help us advance the marriage equality cause in every corner of the country."

Thorpe comes to Freedom to Marry from Basic Rights Oregon, having served the past five years as Executive Director. An activist for social justice for more than 20 years, Thorpe is a former city councilwoman and acting mayor of Ithaca, New York. She served as a field organizer for New York's Empire State Pride Agenda, and has extensive experience in political campaign work and non-profit administration. After moving to Portland, OR, to lead Basic Rights Oregon, she was selected as one of Portland's 50 Most Powerful Women in 2004, and is a recipient of the Ann Shepherd Award for her leadership.

While with BRO, Thorpe led her state through a tight election campaign against an anti-gay constitutional amendment, tenaciously spearheaded creative legislative and litigation strategies, and contributed her expertise to the growth of her own organization and to colleagues in the Equality Federation of LGBT statewide groups around the country. Under Thorpe's leadership, Basic Rights Oregon and its allies built a diverse and powerful team of non-gay and gay activists, business and labor leaders, political and civic leaders, and coalition partners that is a model to others in the movement.

"Roey's relationships with state leaders across the country, her participation in national leadership conversations with activists and funders, and her warmth and judgment as a respected and beloved colleague to many of the key people and groups with whom we partner, all make her an invaluable asset to the work of Freedom to Marry nationwide," Wolfson continued. "Through her leadership we will continue to support state-by-state efforts to engage the American public in a conversation about why marriage matters and the need to end discrimination in marriage."

"Freedom to Marry plays a crucial role in bringing the many terrific organizations working to end marriage discrimination together into a whole greater than the sum of the parts," said Thorpe. "I am eager to be a coach and colleague to the state and local leaders making the case for marriage equality in their communities, and to help bring more non-gay voices into this civil right movement nationwide."

Freedom to Marry's current Program Director, Rodney McKenzie, is returning to the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force to do hands-on work in the field, mobilizing communities of color in support of marriage equality, and will remain a valued colleague. "My experience at Freedom to Marry further prepared and excited me for the work of ensuring that the faces and voices of people of color are seen and heard as we join together to win marriage in California," said McKenzie. "I know that with Roey as Freedom to Marry's new Program Director, alongside Evan and the whole Freedom to Marry team, the national leadership for marriage equality is in excellent hands."

Thorpe will officially join Freedom to Marry on July 31st, after wrapping up at Basic Rights Oregon and then completing a prestigious leadership-development program at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

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Freedom to Marry is the gay and non-gay partnership working to win marriage equality nationwide. Launched in 2003, Freedom to Marry is headed by Evan Wolfson, nationally recognized as a central "architect of the marriage equality movement." Freedom to Marry guides and focuses this social justice movement on a nationwide level, serving as a strategy and support center for national, state, and local partners, a catalyst that drives and shapes the national debate on marriage equality, and an alliance-builder fostering support from non-gay allies.