Marriage equality advocates now have a $1 million-reason to elevate their voices between now and June.
Ahead of the Supreme Court's ruling on gay marriage expected this summer, activists and partners Karen Dixon and Nan Schaffer will match donations, dollar-for-dollar up to $1 million, toward LGBT advocacy group Lambda Legal.
The effort is part of the group's #IDo fundraising and awareness campaign.
"Even after we achieve marriage equality, our friends and family members can still be fired in 28 states for simply being who they are because their state has not enacted laws that tell employers and landlords that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity is illegal," Dixon, who is a board co-chair for the organization, wrote in a blog for The Huffington Post.
In a press release provided to HuffPost, Dixon pointed out that Lambda Legal hopes to increase efforts "to make sure that if you post your wedding photos on Facebook, you won’t be fired the next day.”
The fundraising campaign also calls on supporters to spread the word on social media using the #IDo hashtag.
(Story continues below.)
The Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments for Obergefell v. Hodges -- a consolidation of cases considering gay marriage in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee -- on April 28.
One of the plaintiffs, Jim Obergefell, hopes to be listed as the surviving spouse on his husband's death certificate. In 2013, he married his partner of 20 years, John Arthur, on a medical jet. Arthur died in October of the same year.
"The decision to file suit -- I know from John's perspective -- it was a way for him to say, 'Thank you, Jim. You've given me 20 years. The past couple of years have been pretty awful with ALS, and this is something I can do to thank you, to protect you and to just let you know once again, how much I love you,'" Obergefell said during a speech at the Human Rights Campaign's headquarters. "And I can think of no better reason to be going to the Supreme Court than to remember that and honor that."
Learn more about the #IDo campaign here.
Related
Before You Go
