Marriage Equality USA® National Media Center
Media Team:
- Stuart Gaffney, Media Director (415) 378-3259
- John Lewis, Legal Director (415) 377-7924
- Thom Watson, Social Media Director (650) 450-8466, Twitter @meusa, Facebook/marriageequalityusa, and Google+
If you want to receive our press releases, please send your contact information to MEUSA's Media Center.
MEUSA™ can be found on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/marriageequalityusa, on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/meusa, and on Google+
MEUSA™ Press Releases/In the Media
(click on each title to read/listen/view in full)
MARRIAGE EQUALITY USA CONGRATULATES DELAWARE ON PASSAGE OF THE FREEDOM TO MARRY! - Press Release 7 May 2013
"Marriage Equality USA members and partners have teamed up every week, going door-to-door in the neighborhoods to talk about the importance of the freedom to marry with Delaware's citizens. With the passage of the marriage equality bill, our volunteers feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment that our collective efforts have created change."
OUTTAKE VOICES: CATHY MARINO-THOMAS AND MARRIAGE EQUALITY USA - Audio interview, Charlotte Robinson host of OUTTAKE VOICES™ talks with Cathy Marino-Thomas, 6 May 2013
RE: Jason Collins - "I feel that any step forward and any coming out experience is a good one. So for the most part it’s a fabulous thing; I just feel a little slighted on behalf of all the female athletes that have been in fact living out lives for a long time…"
WINNING RHODE ISLAND AND BEYOND, BY MARRIAGE EQUALITY USA SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR THOM WATSON - Editorial SF Bay Times2 May 2013
"It turns out that being open, honest and out of the closet – telling our stories, in our own words, to the people already in our lives – is among the very best tools we have to ensure our equality. That is a 'lifestyle' worth promoting."
MARRIAGE EQUALITY USA CONGRATULATES RHODE ISLAND ON PASSAGE OF THE FREEDOM TO MARRY - Press Release 24 April 2013
"The freedom to marry is sweeping the nation, as Rhode Island becomes the 10th state in the union with marriage for all, in the same week that France became the 14th nation worldwide with equal marriage rights. The momentum from coast-to-coast and around the world is unstoppable."
MARRIAGE EQUALITY USA DEPLORES THE EXCLUSION OF LGBT FAMILIES FROM CIR - Statement for Immigration Equality Website, 20 April 2013
"These are real families forced to make choices that no one should ever have to make. Marriage Equality USA deplores the exclusion of same- sex couples from immigration reform because love recognizes no geographic boundaries; families and children deserve the protection, dignity, and respect of a loving home."
IN RESPONSE TO TRAUMATIC EVENTS IN BOSTON MARRIAGE EQUALITY USA TAX DAYS ACTIONS ARE CANCELLED - Press Release 15 April 2013
“Our hearts and thoughts are with the victims and the injured in Boston, Massachusetts, as well as with their families and friends. In solidarity with all of those affected by the traumatic events we are cancelling the remainder of today's Tax Day actions immediately."
MARRIAGE EQUALITY USA STANDS UP FOR EQUALITY FOR SAME-SEX COUPLES ON TAX DAY - Press Release 15 April 2013
“We are encouraged by the recent Supreme Court arguments against the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). But until America fulfills its promise of equal justice under the law, tax day will continue to be an annual day of reckoning for how our couples and families face unequal treatment – and are often forced to pay more than their fellow citizens to the same government that denies us equal rights.”
MARRIAGE EQUALITY USA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR BRIAN SILVA ON GOOGLE PRIDEPLUS HANGOUT - , 28 March 2013
"We continue to organize, we continue to educate, we continue to take action." "...we know that history is on our side, we know that the numbers are on our side, and we know that polling is on our side."
NOTE: "Don't sit and wait. What can you do right now..." provided by Brian beginning at 25:12.
MARRIAGE EQUALITY USA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR BRIAN SILVA ON HUFFPOST LIVE - DOMA at SCOTUS Predictions, 28 March 2013
"... this is about real people... when it comes down to it this is about families across America that just want to have the same protections as everybody else."
MARRIAGE EQUALITY USA HOPEFUL AFTER THE SECOND HISTORIC DAY OF U.S. SUPREME COURT HEARINGS - Press Release 27 March 2013
“The case to end DOMA is compelling. DOMA unfairly denies thousands of legally married same-sex couples across the country federal protections in many areas of their lives such as social security, veterans’ benefits, health care, taxes, and immigration. Every lower federal court that has considered the issue has held that excluding married same-sex couples from these protections in unfair and unconstitutional. After today’s hearing, we are hopeful the United States Supreme Court will do the same.”
MARRIAGE EQUALITY USA LEADERS STUART GAFFNEY AND JOHN LEWIS ON DEMOCRACY NOW! - 27, March 2013
"The historic moment hanging over these cases is incredible—the atmosphere is electric."
MARRIAGE EQUALITY USA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR BRIAN SILVA ON HARDBALL WITH CHRIS MATTHEWS - 1:36-4:32, The Politics of Gay Marriage, 26 March 2013
"The folks in favor of marriage equality are sticking around!"
MARRIAGE EQUALITY USA HOPEFUL FOR RULING IN FAVOR OF THE FREEDOM TO MARRY AFTER UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT ARGUMENTS - Press Release 26 March 2013
"The Justices asked very thoughtful questions today, showing that they are considering very carefully the legal questions that are critical to the lives of loving, committed same-sex couples. After hearing the oral argument, we are very hopeful that the Court will rule in favor of the freedom to marry - either by issuing a decision that renders Prop. 8 no longer enforceable, or by issuing a broader ruling that excluding loving committed same-sex couples from marriage violates the United States Constitution."
LIGHT THE WAY TO JUSTICE RALLY OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT -Speech by MEUSA's Cathy Marino-Thomas begins at 01:15:19; speech by MEUSA's Stuart Gaffney and John Lewis begins at 2:29:32 (pauses at 2:30:35 while folks start coming out of the court) and resumes at 2:32:30; Gay Marriage Supporters Host Rally Outside Supreme Court, CSPAN, 26 March 2013
MARRIAGE EQUALITY USA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR BRIAN SILVA WITH THOMAS ROBERTS ON MSNBC LIVE - 2:16-6:24, during the Prop 8 hearing, in front of the United States Supreme Court, 26 March 2013
"America is ready for marriage equality!" "...it's very hard to deny rights to people who you work with and live with and are family with every single day."
MARRIAGE EQUALITY USA STANDS WITH THE MARRIAGE PLAINTIFFS AT THE U.S. SUPREME COURT, AND TOGETHER WITH OUR COMMUNITY AT RALLIES IN ALL 50 STATES - Press Release 25 March 2013
"As two of the key equal rights cases of our generation come before the highest court of the land, we seek fulfillment of the promise that the words engraved on the Supreme Court building in Washington D.C., 'Equal Justice Under Law,' apply to us. We stand shoulder to shoulder with — and on the shoulders of — the millions of LGBT people who have come out and have built a movement... Although only a handful of attorneys will actually argue the cases before the Court, we all will be before the Court Tuesday and Wednesday."
MARRIAGE EQUALITY USA'S BOARD CO-PRESIDENT IS PROFILED IN CURVE MAGAZINE - 20 March 2013, April 2013 issue of Curve.
“There is simply no other way to grant these rights to another individual in exactly the same way with the same level of protection as a marriage license.”
MARRIAGE EQUALITY USA APPLAUDS OBAMA AMINISTRATION'S HISTORIC AMICUS BRIEF TO THE U.S. SUPREME COURT OPPOSING PROPOSITION 8 - Press Release 28 February 2013
“The Administration’s brief should carry great weight with the Court. The President of the United States has now made clear to the Justices of the Supreme Court that the United States Constitution prohibits Proposition 8’s exclusion of lesbian and gay couples from marriage.” said MEUSA™ Legal Director John Lewis. “The already compelling case for the freedom to marry became even stronger today.” Read/download the brief.
MARRIAGE EQUALITY USA FILES US SUPREME COURT BRIEF TELLING THE IMPORTANCE OF THE FREEDOM TO MARRY IN THE PERSONAL VOICES OF SAME-SEX COUPLES, Nationwide Organization of LGBT people, friends, family, and allies files Amicus Brief in Proposition 8 Case (Hollingsworth v. Perry) - Press Release 28 February 2013
“This case is ultimately about our common humanity – our common instinct to love and to have kin – and what should be our common freedom under the United States Constitution to marry the person we love.” Read/download the brief.
LET OUR PEOPLE WED Same-sex Couples to Request Marriage Licenses on Valentine’s Day as Marriage Equality Heads to the U.S. Supreme Court - Press Release 13 February 2013
"Same-sex couples will be asking for marriage licenses on Valentine's Day, just as briefs in the marriage cases are being filed with the United States Supreme Court. This year, couples will hold hands at the marriage counter with the hope that the Justices will rule on the side of love, so that the court cases can stop and the wedding plans can start."
STATE OF OUR UNIONS 2013 - Article Written by MEUSA Social Media Director Thom Watson and MEUSA Legal Director John Lewis for GO Magazine 6 February 2013
"This year, advocates will work to secure full marriage equality in Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Rhode Island and perhaps Minnesota; to pass civil union legislation in Colorado; to repeal existing bans in Minnesota and Ohio; and to hold back potential bans in Indiana and Iowa. Very recently, marriage equality and domestic partnership bills also have been introduced in Wyoming, along with a marriage equality bill in New Mexico. Although we can’t yet predict their likelihood of passage, one very positive note is that the Wyoming bills have bipartisan sponsorship."
NOTE: Indiana did not pursue the ban this year and Wyoming defeated its marriage and domestic partnership bills. However, everything was accurate as of the time the article went to press.
MARRIAGE EQUALITY USA APPLAUDS PRESIDENT’S HISTORIC RECOGNITION OF THE FREEDOM TO MARRY AS A CIVIL RIGHTS ISSUE - Press Release 21 January 2013
"Marriage Equality USA heeds the challenge in today’s presidential remarks to 'continue a never-ending journey – to bridge the meaning of those words to the realities of our times, for history tells us that while these truths may be self-evident, they’ve never been self-executed.' The themes of today’s inaugural speech were inclusivity, and emphasized what we can do together and via personal responsibility. MEUSA will continue to work collaboratively to ensure that all military families receive the same benefits, to work for immigration reform that will enable binational couples and families to stay together, to create the caring and safety noted by the president as primary needs for children for LGBTIQ youth and the children in LGBTIQ families, and we will work to guarantee that equality is extended to transgender and Intersex members of our community."
2012 Marriage Equality USA® Press Releases©
2011 Marriage Equality USA® Press Releases©
2010 Marriage Equality USA® Press Releases©
SUMMARY OF MARRIAGE EQUALITY USA® MEDIA COVERAGE (2008-2009)©
This report provides an overview of the media coverage that resulted from the MEUSA™ Media Center and MEUSA™ National and Local Leaders.
