On Tuesday, Feb. 7, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a ruling that Proposition 8, the anti-gay measure that stripped gay and lesbian couples in California of the freedom to marry, is unconstitutional. Yesterday, Feb. 8, the Washington legislature passed a marriage bill that will go to the...

What a year! In 2011 Freedom to Marry scored a transformative triumph as we co-founded and co-led the coalition that helped secure the freedom to marry in New York; launched our federal campaign advancing the Respect for Marriage Act (the bill to repeal the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, "DOMA")...

New York is not the first state to have its legislature end the exclusion of lesbian and gay couples from marriage, but this time is different.

With Friday's vote for families and fairness, the number of Americans living in states with the freedom to marry

Last night during a speech in which President Obama was ticking off the work still ahead for his administration, an audience member called him out on the freedom to marry. The president responded, "Our work is not finished."

President Obama is right. The work --...

Today, Freedom to Marry is excited to announce the launch of our groundbreaking new campaign "Why Marriage Matters." I have invited our Director of Public Engagement Thalia Zepatos to share more about the campaign and how it will move marriage forward nationwide:

President Obama and Vice President Biden are traveling...

This week, Illinois' Governor Pat Quinn signed into law the Illinois Religious Freedom Protections and Civil Unions Act passed by the state's legislature in December. By creating civil union, a non-marriage marital status for certain couples, Illinois has brought the number of Americans living in jurisdictions that provide some measure...

If it's Sunday in Jacksonville, Fla., it isn't hard to find Darlene Maffett, her partner, and their two children -- just head over to St. Luke's Community Church. As the first gay-friendly African-American church in a city where 32 percent of all gay couples are raising children, the Maffetts call...

Freedom to Marry spent 2010 ramping up and reinventing itself to be the national campaign the movement needs to get the job done. Working together in this campaign, we can make 2011, like 2010, another winning year for the freedom to marry.

Crossposted at www.freedomtomarry.org

Amid the joy and drama of Argentina's historic embrace of the freedom to marry last week, there is a retro production unfolding in cities across the country this summer. Following up on its notorious "Gathering Storm" ad, the relentless anti-gay group, "National Organization for Marriage," has been pulling...

Last week, Congress took a historic step toward undoing government discrimination against lesbian and gay Americans. In a resounding and bipartisan vote, the House of Representatives by 234-194 authorized repeal of military discrimination -- trivialized by its common name, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." The Senate Armed Services Committee voted for...

The telltale moment came during the federal trial challenging Proposition 8, which stripped away gay couples' freedom to marry in California. Chief Judge Vaughn Walker asked Charles Cooper, the attorney defending Prop 8, "What would be the harm of permitting gay men and lesbians to marry?" Cooper replied, "Your Honor,...

April 3rd is the first anniversary of the Iowa Supreme Court's unanimous ruling that excluding same-sex couples from marriage is unconstitutional. As happy couples and their delighted loved ones begin celebrating personal anniversaries, the milestone marks yet another moment in the marriage movement when critics said we couldn't -- but...

In the wake of the pointed refusal by New Jersey's legislature to take action, Lambda Legal has returned to the New Jersey Supreme Court to win the freedom to marry. Lambda's attorneys filed a motion directly with the high court, asking it to bring New Jersey...

Today, surrounded by friends and family, the first same-sex couples in Washington D.C. to receive marriage licenses are celebrating their legal marriages. D.C. now officially joins the five states and eight countries that have ended exclusion from marriage. Marriage in our nation's capital marks a significant victory not only...

The first full trial on gay people's freedom to marry, complete with evidence and cross examination of witnesses, prominent lawyers squaring off over a state's discrimination, experts testifying on the history of marriage and the well-being of children, concerns and debate over timing, and television coverage of the trial spurring...

When President Obama speaks to gay and non-gay supporters of equality at the Human Rights Campaign's dinner this Saturday, he has a lot of ground to cover. I don't just mean the number of subjects to address, given the many ways in which lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in...

When Mark McNealy was laid off from his job in April, he lost his employer-provided health insurance. He could still pay a reduced rate for insurance through COBRA for 18 months, but his partner, Robert Meredith, a cancer survivor, could not. Because the so-called "Defense of Marriage Act" ("DOMA")