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Legislative
More and more legislatures are dealing with the failure of the law to provide equal treatment and legal protections and responsibilities to gay and lesbian constituents and their families in nearly every state. Others are standing up to pressure from anti-gay organizations seeking to deepen the discrimination.
In 2007, pro-marriage bills were introduced in a record number of states, eleven at final count: Connecticut, New Hampshire, California, Illinois, New York, Washington, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont, and New Mexico. Bills to create "civil union" or "partnership" as an interim step toward marriage equality advanced in states as diverse as Oregon, Illinois, New Mexico, Washington, and New Hampshire — all products of the work to win marriage itself.
Use the key resources below to learn more about legislative activity.
FROM EVAN WOLFSON:
A Tearful Republican Mayor Comes Out — For the Freedom to Marry
Complete with video, Evan Wolfson highlights an emotional press conference by San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, a Republican former police chief, at which he announced his intention to sign a resolution supporting the freedom to marry, a reversal from his prior public opposition. Mayor Sanders said his change of heart and mind was due to soul-searching and personal conversations with gay people he knows, including his lesbian daughter, showing how powerful it is to make the conversation about real people, not just legalisms or hypotheticals. He also described how he has come to understand that his prior support for civil union, rather than marriage, was inadequate and wrong. San Diego now joins the other major California cities in calling on the Governor and State Supreme Court to follow the legislature's lead in embracing marriage equality.
Candidates' Guide on How to Support Marriage Equality and Get Elected
Americans are hungry for, and respect, candidates who speak up for what they believe and value. When addressing marriage equality for same-sex couples, candidates should be authentic and direct about their values and the policies of fairness that flow from them.
From where I stand
Evan Wolfson describes the challenges of 2006, as well as the progress in 2007 and beyond. There are opportunities for good work in all states, whether they have anti-gay amendments or not. Marriage equality is within reach in all 50 states—if we do the reaching.
Marriage Equality is Within Reach, If We Do the Reaching (and Don't Under-Reach)
Originally adapted from a speech given to the Legal Marriage Alliance of Washington on October 16, 2005
Adapted and published in The Stranger on October 20, 2005
Evan Wolfson discusses the importance of those who favor equality and inclusion to help explain to the "reachable middle" why, "The right way to end discrimination in marriage is to, well, end discrimination in marriage. Not create something new, different, lesser, or other."
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WHERE YOU CAN GO TO GET INVOLVED OR LEARN MORE:
Human Rights Campaign: Marriage and Relationship Recognition Legislation
The Human Rights Campaign tracks legislation throughout the country that deals with both marriage and relationship recognition, including both positive and discriminatory legislation.
Freedom to Marry State by State
Visit our state pages to see what is happening with legislation in your state and how to get involved.
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LEGISLATIVE STATUS IN THE U.S.:
Freedom to Marry Legislative Maps
View and/or download United States maps tracking proposed legislation concerning marriage throughout our nation. Also, find maps showing the current status of protections for same-sex couples in our country and historical views of past marriage struggles.
Legal recognition of same-sex relationships by state
Human Rights Campaign (HRC)
The Human Rights Campaign lists each state's laws concerning marriage/relationship recognition.
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THE NUMBERS: POLLING & STATISTICS:
35% of same-sex couples live in states where some of the state law rights that spouses receive can be obtained by marrying or entering civil unions, reciprocal beneficiary relationships or domestic partnerships.
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PUBLICATIONS:
Equality from State to State
The Human Rights Campaign's annual state legislative report covering state constitutional amendments and bills affecting gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people and their families nationwide.
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NEWS:
Pentagon balked on partner's travel
Prior to the Easter recess, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was forced to intervene with Defense Secretary Robert Gates in order to get Democratic Rep. Tammy Baldwin’s domestic partner on a military flight for a congressional fact-finding trip to Europe.
Discriminatory measure fizzles in House
A lawmaker's attempt to push legislation aimed at amending the Iowa Constitution to include marriage discrimination failed Tuesday.
Activists call for marriage equality
Activists rallied in Annapolis yesterday and met with dozens of lawmakers to lobby for marriage equality, predicting they are close to having the necessary votes in the legislature only five months after Maryland's highest court upheld the state's ban on such unions. Several hundred people in Lawyers Mall held signs that read "Protect all families" and "Love does not discriminate." Organizers with Equality Maryland, a gay-rights group, said they dispatched participants to make more than 115 visits with lawmakers and urged them to tell personal stories and why their relationships need protections afforded by marriage.
County residents say same-sex marriage bill will help them
At least 15 residents from Frederick County will travel to Annapolis to attend an Equality Maryland rally in support of legislation that would end the exclusion of same-sex couples and their families from marriage in the state.
Marriage Equality Lobby Set
Marriage advocates are lobbying lawmakers, holding press conferences and appearing on talk shows as a Maryland Senate committee considers bills both ending the exclusion of same-sex couples and their families from marriage and writing discrimination into the state constitution.
Indiana Senate Passes Anti-Marriage Amendment
Indiana's Senate has approved a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would limit marriage to opposite-sex couples. The Senate vote sends the measure to the House, which is controlled by Democrats. Speaker Patrick Bauer (D) has said repeatedly that an amendment is not needed because same-sex marriages are already banned under Indiana law.
MD marriage ruling leads to vows for legislation in General Assembly
State Sen. Gwendolyn Britt (D-Dist. 47) and Del. Victor Ramirez (D-Dist. 47) have both announced they would sponsor legislation in 2008 to allow same-sex couples to wed. Ramirez is championing the freedom to marry saying his cultural heritage allows him to identify with the desire for equal rights under the law. "Latinos and everyone fighting for equality, justice and freedom understand the importance of having the same opportunities and importance of being treated with fairness and compassion."
PRESS RELEASE: CA legislature again passes bill giving same-sex couples choice to marry
For the second time in two years, the California Legislature has passed legislation that would grant same-sex couples the ability to marry. With a 22-15 vote, the Senate on September 7 approved AB 43, authored by Assemblymember Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, and sponsored by Equality California.
NY State Assembly approves marriage law
In an historic vote late in the evening on Tuesday, June 19, the New York State Assembly approved legislation guaranteeing marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples. The measure was approved by a vote of 85 to 61 after a floor debate that lasted more than three hours. "Fresh from the historic Massachusetts victory last week, we now have a state that many thought couldn't do it become the second legislative body in the country to step toward marriage equality," Evan Wolfson said. "The fact that states such as New York, California, and New Jersey are so dramatically within reach ought to inspire all of us, gay and non-gay people, funders, and allies to go the extra mile now, and really work for what is now within our reach."
Celebrating recent LGBT legislative advances
Jon Davidson, Legal Director of Lambda Legal writes "Over the last several weeks, the nation has seen remarkable legislative advances in support of the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals, both with regard to protections for those in same-sex relationships and prohibitions against discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. While we applaud these advances, we remain mindful that there is much more to accomplish. Same-sex couples still cannot marry in 49 states, and the federal government refuses to honor the marriages that same-sex couples validly enter."
BLOG: A conservative perspective against anti-gay marriage amendments
Conservative U.S. Circuit Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III questions why the people should constrain themselves from acting through their legislatures to deal with the myriad issues raised by same-sex and other unmarried couples, but stick something in the state constitution disempowering the legislature from acting?
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MULTIMEDIA:
PODCAST: WI State Senator Mark Miller on civil rights and marriage
Excerpts from an interview by John Quinlan on the public affairs radio program, Forward Forum, which aired on July 29, 2006 on WXXM, The Mic, 92.1 (www.themic921.com) in Madison, WI. State Senator Miller reflects on the parallels between laws that had historically prohibited interracial marriage and current prohibitions against marriage for same sex couples. He draws on his own experiences in the late 1960s, early in his marriage to Jo Oyama-Miller, his Japanese-American wife, when the young couple lived lived in Alabama--a state where it was still technically illegal for them to be married. The 13 minute clip also includes excerpts from a speech that then State Rep. delivered on the floor of the WI State Assembly March 4, 2004.
VIDEO: Gay and lesbian marriages stay legal in Bay State
Watch lawmakers vote Thursday to keep a constitutional amendment that bans gay marriages off the 2008 ballot during a joint session of the Massachusetts House and Senate.
VIDEO: Public Policy Lecture Series: "Should State Legislatures Approve Same-sex Marriage?"
From C-SPAN, Evan Wolfson debates parenting and marriage equality with David Blankenhorn of the Institute for American Values. Evan draws on the leading experts (American Academy of Pediatrics, Family Law Quarterly) who say ending discrimination in marriage would help families and hurt no one. This debate was held on March 14, 2007 at Pace Law School.
Streaming video from Pace Law School
Download video
Evan's opening remarks on YouTube
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June 1, 2007
Evan Wolfson describes the challenges of 2006, as well as the progress in 2007 and beyond. There are opportunities for good work in all states, whether they have anti-gay amendments or not. Marriage equality is within reach in all 50 states—if we do the reaching.
Visit our state pages to see what is happening with legislation in your state and how to get involved.
View and/or download United States maps tracking proposed legislation [MISSING LINK MAPS.HTML] concerning marriage throughout our nation. Also, find maps showing the current status of protections for same-sex couples in our country and historical views of past marriage struggles.
