HRC Breaking News – Marriage Equality – ANOTHER Victory
RELEASED: 17 February 2012 – 5:45pm
Just moments ago, the Maryland House of Delegates passed an historic marriage equality bill, bringing us one giant step closer to making Maryland the next state to allow gay and lesbian couples to wed.
What makes this win so sweet is that it comes on the heels of three huge victories in the past two weeks: a court decision that ruled Prop. 8 unconstitutional, as well as major progress for marriage equality in Washington and New Jersey.
This latest win was made possible through years of tireless efforts by equality advocates like you.
From here, all eyes turn to the state Senate, then to Governor Martin O’Malley, a remarkable champion who has driven the effort to get this law through.
But momentum is everything as this bill advances and we need to be out front and visible with the case for marriage equality in Maryland. Share the image below on Facebook to show you stand on the right side of history with Governor O’Malley.
Share the image on Facebook to show you stand on the right side of history with Gov. O’Malley.
It’s been a tough road filled with plenty of setbacks – and we’re not done yet. But our perseverance has led to this major breakthrough. Here’s how your passion for change helped get us here:
- Thanks to broad support from HRC’s more than one million members and supporters, we helped organize an impressive pro-marriage coalition including 1199 SEIU, the Baltimore Branch of the NAACP, Equality Maryland, the Maryland ACLU, Progressive Maryland and Marylanders for Marriage Equality.
- Support from activists and members enabled us to place five senior staff members at the helm of the campaign.
- Together, we generated 18,000 emails, 16,000 phone calls, and 15,000 postcards to Maryland lawmakers.
- We launched an unprecedented outreach campaign in the press, online, and in church communities to build support across Maryland.
- With your support, we successfully brought together clergy members of all faiths to boldly demonstrate support for marriage equality from across the state.
- On behalf of the coalition, HRC produced 15 web ads featuring prominent Marylanders like Governor O’Malley to keep the issue visible.
It’s clear that our nationwide campaign for equality is working, and – one day soon – loving, committed, same-sex couples will be able to marry – no matter which state they call home.
The Maryland campaign continues and we won’t back down until marriage equality is legal in every state. But we are making incredible progress and we wouldn’t be here without you.
Proud and grateful,
Joe Solmonese
President
