Our
plan has three components to reach the goal of marriage rights
for same-sex couples. Marriage Equality believes a comprehensive
educational program, smart media campaign and grass roots organizing
can change the course of LGBT quest for equality.
Education
Without a doubt, a comprehensive and far reaching education
program is essential to the success of obtaining our right
and freedom to marry.
Many people, when presented with real
facts, become supportive of Marriage Equality.
Therefore, we believe it is crucial to educate and
change the current dialogue, lessen the 'fears' or
confusion, and change the hearts and minds
of those who have yet to hear and/or understand
our issue.
Civil marriage
is a basic human right. Civil marriage affords over 1,000
benefits, legal protections and responsibilities. This
is why same-sex couples should be allowed to enter into
a civil marriage, to protect themselves and their families.
Before we discuss who cannot marry� Before we discuss
why same-sex couples SHOULD marry� Even before we discuss
the stories of those suffering or challenged because they
cannot marry� We should discuss marriage in the immediate; marriage
as nongay couples listening to us in a room experience it.
What is it for them? What did they imagine marriage would
entail on that day they walked down the aisle 5, 25, even
45 years ago? Was there ever a time when the contract of
marriage was to their advantage? What are their roles within
their marriage? Why do people enter the institution? Is it
only for love and commitment? Are people aware at all about
the legal protections? Or do they find them out as life presents
certain problems? Can they imagine a different type of marriage?
What are their 'fixed' ideas?
To personalize it, to allow people to think back and reflect
on the person next to them and all they both have been through,
with or without children, can be one key to realizing our
goal.
Grass Roots Leadership and Coalition Building
Building grass roots leadership and coalitions is a critical third component to advancing
our right to marry. Partnering with other gay and nongay
organizations that are on board with marriage equality, as
well as churches, corporations, and other groups with an
interest in civil rights and equality will be a huge boost
to the number of people we can change through education and
media awareness.
An aggressive development plan will include the cultivation
of relationships with large corporations. Corporate sponsors
are not only vital to obtaining needed funds, but also, for
those companies that offer domestic partnerships, clearly
a positive step in the right direction, would be valuable,
especially if their senior management considered and publicly
agreed to sign the Marriage Declaration.
Nongay couples who are disadvantaged by companies who only
offer domestic partnership benefits to same-sex couples is
another group within our demographics. In overall discussions of fairness, couples, both gay and
nongay, could help each other out by speaking out and helping
to obtain the rights each desires.
Our ultimate goal is to change public opinion throughout
the country by education and media awareness. We intend
to reach our goal within 10 years. While that may sound
like a very long time, Marriage Equality understands that
breaking through the fear that exists can and will be difficult.
Marriage Equality USA's work will be complete when Marriage Equality is the law of the land,
accessible in all 50 states to same-sex couples, and when the federal DOMA is repealed,
granting same-sex couples access to the 1,138 federal rights.
Media
Without a doubt, the media plays a critical role in controversial
issues. People are moved by message and especially an image.
Sometimes, a provocative ad in the NY Times can catch substantial
attention or a radio announcement in a small town can change
the discourse dramatically. Whatever the medium, the media
are undeniably essential tools to our success in obtaining
marriage rights.
Education alone, just like media representation alone, is
not enough. Both working in tandem will push the issue forward
in the public's mind. MEUSA is a national organization,
one whose interest is purely educational and message-oriented
on the broadest scale; all 50 states. Other organizations
already successfully work on local levels, as civil marriage
is a state issue. But to raise the awareness throughout America
is essential to this civil rights fight and the organization
should be set up to reach people that may not have a local
organization in close proximity. Therefore, media
plays a huge role in meeting our goals.
Marriage Equality will devote a good amount of time, energy,
and resources to a comprehensive media campaign. As a national
organization, it is important to reach out as effectively
and broadly as possible, no matter which city or state people
reside. There are four essential points to an effective media
campaign, which Marriage Equality will implement:
A. Media representation in all areas
B. Large-scale media events
C. Watch for fair and accurate information on marriage-related
issues
D. Quick and effective responses
Again, our goal is to reach as many persons as possible,
while effectively spreading the message that marriage
matters for couples, including same-sex couples. To
get America talking about the issue, educating themselves
and others, we must reach all of America, not just 3 or 4
states. The 'domino effect' philosophy can be
used in this example: what people think in Wisconsin, could
very well have an impact on what could happen in Iowa or
California. It has happened before with such topics as school
vouchers and welfare reform (two major issues that began
in Wisconsin and were considered for implementation in California).
To presume that we know 'beyond certainty' which
specific states would benefit from our educational and media
resources purely based on someone else's theory, would
be a disservice to the issue, a disservice to gay people
who don't live in major cities, and a disservice to
potential leaders that have yet to be realized.
Those we want to reach (our demographics) are fair-minded
persons who live everywhere. Many of these individuals include
those who know, work or are related to a gay person (currently
just over 50% of the U.S. population claims to be in this
category), as well as those who live in larger cities. Yet,
we must also reach certain pockets of the population where
specific legal protections are important. For example, Chicago
may have a media campaign with an economic and immigration
message, as our targeted population in Chicago may be most
concerned with either or both issues.
Finally, perpetuating our own 'buzz words' and
phrases, thus taking away the overused language our opposition
uses such as 'protecting marriage;' marriage
is as it always was, etc., is vital to keeping the
discussion on our terms. While our opponent's phrases
pop up consistently, they are used to perpetuate ignorance
and fear that can easily be broken through with the truth that
marriage equality for same-sex couples is necessary and good
for society. Claiming these phrases for our couples and our
families can turn the debate around, positioning it in our
favor.
|
