Washington, U.S.A. — On July 10, Freedom to Marry, the campaign to win marriage nationwide, launched Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry, a new campaign to highlight and build support for the freedom to marry among young people across America who identify as conservative. The campaign launch will take place at a kickoff event in Washington, D.C.

“Freedom and family are core conservative values,” said conservative commentator, political strategist, and media personality Margaret Hoover, who is a member of the Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry leadership committee. “We have a historic opportunity to reaffirm these important values by supporting the fundamental freedom to marry for all Americans. Now is the time for a rising generation of voters and leaders to embrace these virtues and join Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry.”

Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry is part of Freedom to Marry’s campaign to demonstrate the broad and growing support for marriage across the ideological spectrum. Members of the group will make the case that the freedom to marry should not be a partisan question, and that supporting the freedom to marry fulfills basic conservative values of responsibility and community, as well as limited government and individual freedom.

Members of Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry will work to encourage more conservatives to stand up, speak out and support the freedom to marry by joining and adding new perspectives and experiences to the national conversation about marriage. They will work to end laws in the states that bar same-sex couples from marriage, as well as to repeal the so-called Defense of Marriage Act.

“As Republicans we believe in limited government and we believe that the best way for the federal government to spur growth and jobs is to get out of the way and let small and medium businesses thrive,” said Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who is speaking at the launch event and is a Republican co-sponsor of the Respect for Marriage Act.

“We also believe in equality of opportunity rather than of outcome. Most importantly, we believe that the individual and the family are the central engines in our society. The right for individuals to lead their lives without government intrusion is a bedrock conservative principle and it is much more than just about sexual orientation. It is about the fundamental rights we all share as Americans, it is about equality for all with no exceptions.”

“The center of political gravity has shifted for good,” said Marc Solomon, National Campaign Director of Freedom to Marry. “The freedom to marry is fast becoming a bipartisan value embraced by all Americans who believe that love and commitment deserve support and protection. Freedom to Marry applauds this group of young conservatives for standing up to make the case.”

Support for the freedom to marry has been accelerating at historically dramatic rates and has grown in every group, including right-of-center voters. A March poll by NBC/Wall Street Journal shows that among Republicans, support for the freedom to marry has grown by 41%, and among moderates, by 40%, since 2009. A May poll by ABC News/Washington Post shows that 46% of self-identified Republicans aged 18-44 are in favor of the freedom to marry.

In March, the overwhelmingly Republican-controlled New Hampshire House voted down repeal of the state’s popular freedom to marry law, with a majority of the GOP voting against repeal. Last year, the GOP-led state Senate in New York advanced a freedom to marry law. A memo by Republican pollster Jan van Lohuizen highlights that “opinion is shifting across the board, including among Republicans.”

The kickoff event will feature members of the Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry leadership committee discussing their support for the freedom to marry.

“As a conservative, I find efforts to exclude same-sex couples from marriage to be both wrong and completely off-task,” says Craig Stowell, an Operation Iraqi Freedom Marine Corps veteran and a member of the Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry leadership committee. “I take freedom seriously and want my best friend and brother, who is gay, to have the same freedom as everyone else to marry the person he loves. I hope Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry will inspire other conservatives to do what is right and support loving and committed same-sex couples’ freedom to marry.”

“The more we think about and talk about this with other conservatives, the more we can understand why the denial of marriage to same-sex couples is wrong,” adds Torrey Shearer, a government relations professional in Washington, D.C. and a member of the Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry leadership committee.

“Marriage strengthens families, encourages shared responsibility, and promotes stability in our communities. There is really significant change taking place among conservatives – especially young conservatives – about the freedom to marry, and I hope my involvement in this campaign will accelerate our progress.”

Members of the Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry Leadership Committee include Hoover, Stowell, and Shearer, as well as:

• Tyler Deaton, a lobbyist, political consultant, and Secretary and Finance Chairman of the New Hampshire Young Republicans and the Executive Director of New Hampshire Republicans for Freedom and Equality;
• Nicole Neily, Vice President of Dezenhall Resources and the former Executive Director of the Independent Women’s Forum;
• Madeline Koch, a Manager of Government Affairs for Comcast in St. Paul, MN, former staffer at the Republican National Convention, and former press intern for former Republican Senator Norm Coleman;
• Jason Kuznicki, a Research Fellow at the Cato Institute and editor of Cato Unbound;
• Sarah Longwell, Vice President at Berman and Company, a communications firm in Washington, D.C. that defends free market principles;
• Will Rinehart, a Research Fellow at TechFreedom and former Koch Summer Fellow at the Progress and Freedom Foundation.

Freedom to Marry is the campaign to win marriage nationwide. They are pursuing our Roadmap to Victory by working to win the freedom to marry in more states, grow the national majority for marriage, and end federal marriage discrimination. We partner with individuals and organizations across the country to end the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage and the protections, responsibilities, and commitment that marriage brings.

Image Courtesy of   Gandolfo Cannatella / Shutterstock.com

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Washington, U.S.A. - A week after President Obama announced his support for ending marriage discrimination against same-sex couples, Freedom to Marry and Service members Legal Defense Network (SLDN) announced  Freedom to Serve, Freedom to Marry, a new national campaign that will highlight the stories of military families harmed by the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

The campaign launched with the release of an online video illustrating the real injury inflicted on gay and lesbian military families who, because of the federal government’s refusal to respect their marriages legally, are denied the support and protections that all other military families receive.

“Last week the President described how the stories of service members and their families made a difference in his decision to support the freedom to marry.  In deed, the faces and stories of military families impacted by the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act illustrate the unjust ways this law treats our nation’s most courageous patriots.

It’s unconscionable that we would ask American citizens to put their lives on the line for us in war zones while treating them and their families as second-class citizens at home.  All service members and their families provide the same service, take the same risks, and make the same sacrifices.  When it comes to recognition, support, and benefits, they must all be treated equally.  There cannot be two classes of service members,” said Army Veteran and SLDN Executive Director Aubrey Sarvis.

Because of the ‘gay exception’ created by DOMA, America’s legally married gay and lesbian couples are denied 1,100+ federal responsibilities and protections including Social Security survivors benefits, equal treatment under U.S. immigration laws, and the opportunity to take leave to care for a spouse.

“Many people assume that, with the repeal of ”Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” gay men and lesbians serving our country are now being treated fairly and equally, but that’s not the case.  We ended the ban on open military service for gay and lesbian Americans, but there is still a federal ban on treating married service members as what they are: married,” said Evan Wolfson, founder and President of Freedom to Marry.

“The so-called Defense of Marriage Act’s ’gay exception’ keeps the government in the business of discriminating against families, such as those of service members, and burdening employers, such as the military, who are prevented from treating their employees fairly and equally.”

The Freedom to Serve, Freedom to Marry campaign will include video and other multimedia content spotlighting the harms of DOMA on military families, including the denial of health insurance, survivor benefits, and access to military bases and housing for service members’ spouses.  Additionally, the campaign will invite the public to sign an online petition calling on Congress to “end this discriminatory and unequal treatment of our service members and veterans by repealing DOMA.”

In October 2011, SLDN filed landmark litigation on behalf of eight married gay and lesbian service members and veterans challenging DOMA and three other federal statutes that may be interpreted to prevent the military from providing the same protections and support to all families.

Freedom to Marry’s federal program works to repeal the so-called Defense of Marriage Act and make the case for marriage to government officials, opinion-leaders, and political operatives’ in Washington, DC. Freedom to Marry is a leader of the Respect for Marriage Coalition, a diverse group of nearly 70 organizations working together to repeal DOMA, and regularly hosts salons to engage Democratic, Republican, and independent opinion-leaders and operatives in conversations about why marriage matters to same-sex couples.

Since the introduction of the ‘Respect for Marriage Act’, the bill that would repeal DOMA, the number of cosponsors has increased from 18 to 32 in the Senate, including every Democratic member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and from 108 to 144 in the House of Representatives.

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