Marriage Equality Update
This is just a little update from your friendly neighborhood organizer on the state of Marriage Equality in Rhode Island. I’m sending this message out to friends, colleagues, and associates from my personal e-mail address book because many of you have requested Marriage Equality RI info.
As the only paid staff person on this campaign, I can safely say that the accomplishments we’ve made over the past year can be directly attributed to the hard work and volunteer hours of hundreds of individuals, including many of you.
In one year, Marriage Equality RI has lobbied all 113 members of the Rhode Island General Assembly and our bill to legalize same-sex marriage went from having 16 total bill sponsors in 2004 to 27 sponsors in 2005. Meanwhile, “Defense of Marriage Act” sponsors (wanting to limit marriage to one man and one woman) dwindled from 10 overall to only 3 in the Senate, and no DOMA bill was introduced in the House for 2005! This indicates a definitive tipping point in the campaign, and we can only hope that the support of our legislature will continue to grow as more folks get active in the fight.
Over the past year, MERI has taken the campaign on the road, speaking with dozens of organizations and communities all over the state while displaying the ever-growing Picture Equality photo petition. We’re also developing a newsletter and speaker’s bureau to further public awareness about equal marriage rights. We’ve developed strong partnerships with national organizations such as The Human Rights Campaign, GLAD (Gay & Lesbian Advocates and Defenders), and Freedom to Marry, who all see Rhode Island as one of the top states in the country with the potential to win same-sex marriage rights legislatively.
When Rhode Island wins this civil rights battle democratically (by going through our state legislature), it will send a message to the rest of the country that marriage equality is not a concept that resulted from rulings by a few “activist judges.” Rhode Island has the opportunity to lead the rest of the nation!
The easiest (and most time-efficient) way to keep up with MERI happenings is for you to visit our website (www.MarriageEqualityRI.org). Please bookmark it and send it along to friends that may be interested!
Once you visit the site, I strongly encourage you to submit your e-mail address to join “Family Equality.” If you join this Yahoo group, you will receive announcements about rallies, hearings, and other major campaign events. It’s not a discussion group, so the volume of e-mails will not exceed 3 per week, and it’s usually less.
The upcoming two months are crucial as we prepare for hearings - and of course a major rally! There are plenty of opportunities to get involved. If you haven’t already contacted your local State Representative and Senator in support of Marriage Equality, please do so ASAP. You can find out who they are and how to reach them by calling 222-2340 (a human will answer the phone!).
I know this is a lot, so please contact me if you have questions concerning any of this, and feel free to forward this to other folks. Thank you so much for your time and support.
We know we’re gonna win… it’s only a matter of time. Come be a part of this!