Gay Advocates Plan Summer Of Marriage "Counter Action Tour"
New York, NY - Earlier this month, the anti-gay group, "National Organization for Marriage" (NOM), announced a summer tour across 17 states and the District of Columbia to "protect marriage." In NOM's call to action, they declared that "this is an urgent time for marriage," that "a strong marriage...makes a strong family," and that "groups of these strong families make strong neighborhoods" and "strong towns, cities, and states." We at Freedom to Marry couldn't agree more, and we would like to thank NOM for drawing attention this summer to the love, commitment, and the crucial safety net that marriage brings to families across the country.
Freedom to Marry has announced that we will join NOM in embracing this summer as a Summer for Marriage. We will do this by spreading the word across the country about the importance of ending exclusion from marriage. As part of Freedom to Marry's Summer for Marriage, we are working with our supporters, as well as local and state partners, to plan rallies and other events wherever NOM is planning to push discrimination and distort the truth about gay couples and their families. In 17 states and the District of Columbia, we will share our stories and demonstrate how the denial of marriage harms same-sex couples and their families, while helping no one.
Freedom to Marry has always believed that the best way to change hearts and minds is to break the silence, spark conversations, and share personal stories about why marriage matters to same-sex couples and their families. But we also know that we cannot allow the distractions, distortions, and discriminatory agenda of groups like NOM to go unanswered. In advertising their summer tour, NOM referred to supporters of the freedom to marry as the "iconoclasts" who "pillage the values of our Nation". Nothing could be further from the truth. We will continue to demonstrate that there is nothing more American then embracing the Golden Rule and celebrating love, commitment, and equal protection under the law.
Freedom to Marry's Summer for Marriage tour will begin next month and last through August. We invite gay people and non-gay allies across the country to join Freedom to Marry in making this a Summer for Marriage for all loving couples who choose to embrace the commitment of marriage. Stay tuned - and sign-up at freedomtomarry.org - for updates and ways to show what being for marriage really looks like.
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Freedom to Marry is the leading campaign working to win marriage nationwide. We partner with organizations and supporters across the country to end the exclusion of same-sex couples from the responsibilities, protections, and commitment of marriage.
