December, 01 2009, 11:35am EDT
Washington, D.C. Council Votes in Support of the Freedom to Marry
Statement by Evan
Wolfson, executive director of Freedom to Marry and author of Why Marriage
Matters: America, Equality and Gay People's Right to Marry, following the
District of Columbia City Council's 11-2 vote in support of the freedom
to marry, the first of two required votes:
"Today, the District of
Columbia's City Council listened to their constituents and overwhelmingly
voted in support of protecting families throughout the District, the first of
two votes needed by the council to end the exclusion of gay couples from
marriage. A majority of vot
NEW YORK
Statement by Evan
Wolfson, executive director of Freedom to Marry and author of Why Marriage
Matters: America, Equality and Gay People's Right to Marry, following the
District of Columbia City Council's 11-2 vote in support of the freedom
to marry, the first of two required votes:
"Today, the District of
Columbia's City Council listened to their constituents and overwhelmingly
voted in support of protecting families throughout the District, the first of
two votes needed by the council to end the exclusion of gay couples from
marriage. A majority of voters, and families, from across New York and
New Jersey now look to their representatives in the state legislature to do the
right thing and vote in support of the freedom to marry. As research has
shown, by voting for the freedom to marry for gay couples, legislators in these
states will continue to be re-elected just as every other state legislator who
has voted in support of marriage equality and ran for re-election."
View the report: Pro-Marriage
Legislators Win Elections
Freedom to Marry is the gay and non-gay partnership working to win marriage equality nationwide. Headed by Evan Wolfson, one of America's leading civil rights advocates and lawyers, Freedom to Marry brings new resources and a renewed context of urgency and opportunity to this social justice movement.
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Civil liberties defenders on Thursday decried the U.S. Senate's advancement of the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act, which critics say lawmakers are trying to ram through without protection against warrantless surveillance and with a provision that would effectively make every American a spy whether they like it or not.
Senators voted 67-32 in favor of a cloture motion to begin voting on RISAA, a bill to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which expires on Friday. FISA—a highly controversial law that has been abused hundreds of thousands of times—allows warrantless surveillance of non-U.S. citizens but also often sweeps up Americans' communication data in the process.
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