Knowledge is Power
The greatest leaders of the world all agree that awareness creates progress. This progress is absolutely necessary in order for the Gay and Lesbian community to move forward into equality. Many Americans fear what they do not understand. It is our responsibility to learn as much as we can and share that knowledge with all who will listen. Make this YOUR priority!

Discrimination is Immoral. Enough Said.
A Statement from Matt Foreman, Executive Director of The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

I'm hearing both gay and straight people say that the long string of losses we've faced at the polls around marriage equality are really our own fault; our community pushed too hard and too fast, they argue. The prominent theme being generated is that we have failed to "educate" the public about who we really are and get beyond the stereotypes of leather people, butch dykes, circuit boys and drag queens – and that it is now our obligation to reintroduce ourselves to the American people. I also repeatedly hear that it's up to us to reframe the terms of the debate away from "moral values" to simpler concepts, such as fairness, which polls indicate resonate most with the public. Read more.

Is now really the right time to fight for the freedom to marry?
By Evan Wolfson, Executive Director of Freedom to Marry

In 2004 we ended the exclusion of committed same-sex couples from marriage here in the United States by winning the freedom to marry in Massachusetts. Thousands of U.S couples have gotten married in Canada as well as in Massachusetts, and the sky has not fallen. We have shown non-gay people we can do this, and we are also showing that families are strengthened and no one harmed when the exclusion comes to an end. All across the country, hearts and minds are opening as the fair-minded majority of Americans get the information and time they need to embrace fairness. Read more.

Written Testimony Presented to The Matrimonial Commission of Chief Justice Judith Kaye
Created to Overhaul New York's Divorce Laws
By Anthony M. Brown, Director of Educational Outreach of The Wedding Party

My name is Anthony M. Brown and I am the Director of Educational Outreach of The Wedding Party, a nonprofit organization created to educate the public about what civil marriage is and why it is so important to make the rights and responsibilities of civil marriage available to gay and lesbian couples. I am also the head of the Nontraditional Family and Estates Law Division of the law firm of McKenna, Siracusano and Chianese. I thank you for the opportunity to share with this commission the stories of my individual clients and the suggestions provided to better acquaint the commission with reality of our families and our experiences with the Family Court system. Read more.

 Activism 101
WRITE LETTERS!
One of the most powerful tools that we have is our opinion. This may seem obvious to most of us, but when was the last time you wrote a letter telling an organization or an elected official what you thought? While we are comfortable complaining to those that agree with us, why don't we dare to share our feelings with those that might disagree? Read more.

BE A MEDIA WATCHDOG!
Every 2 weeks, my husband Gary programs our Replay machine, a digital video recorder, to search out programs that have the word "gay" in a show's description. Together, we then write to the networks and let them know how we feel about their portrayal of our community. Gary is a media watchdog. Read more.

BE A CORPORATE WATCHDOG!
In a recent email I reported on Microsoft and its "about face" on a Washington state gay rights bill. The pastor, Ken Hutcherson of Antioch Bible Church in Redmond, met with a senior Microsoft executive in February and threatened to organize a national boycott of the company's products if it did not change its stance on the legislation, according to gay rights activists and a Microsoft employee who attended a subsequent April 4 meeting where Bradford L. Smith, Microsoft's senior vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary, told a group of gay staffers about Hutcherson's threat. Hutcherson also unsuccessfully demanded that the company fire two employees who had testified in favor of the bill. Read more.

What’s everybody talking about?
Once called, “the love that dare not speak its name,” today gay men and lesbians cannot afford to keep quiet. It was unthinkable five years ago that the issue of equality in marriage for same-sex couples would be a priority in gay legal circles. There were other, more pressing issues of employment non-discrimination, hate crime legislation and criminalization of sexual expression to confront. While sodomy has thankfully been addressed in the Supreme Court treatment of Lawrence v. Texas, we now see the other, previously priority issues taking a back seat to the mother of all equality discussions: marriage. Now that the world is looking at, talking about and trying to understand our families in a way never before experienced, we have a responsibility to help them in this endeavor, and in the end, help ourselves to live lives of dreams fulfilled. Read more.