So pleased to republish this great blog post by Talk about Equality who helped us document the stories of our families celebrating the Freedom to Marry! Sunday morning in New York City, close to 700 couples made history by being the first gay and lesbian couples to marry in the state. Talk About Equality and the Family [...]

Aside from brief work trips over the years and a period where I lived in New Jersey and commuted into the city, it’s been 12 years since I’ve actually lived in New York.  A dozen years ago is also the last time I went to Pride. Intellectually, I knew this year’s Pride parade was going [...]

The past few weeks have been an emotional upheaval for LGBT families in MN.  This past Saturday night the state legislature voted 70-62 to place a constitutional amendment stating marriage is between one man and one woman on the 2012 ballot.  Many  of our friends in the community  gave heart-felt testimony to each committee detailing [...]

I just got off the phone with David Giller, the organizer I’ll be working with in the Hudson Valley.  He’s been on the ground for three weeks, making sure that Senator Ball knows that New Yorkers want the freedom to marry.  He reviewed his day for me: mornings he greets commuters headed into the city, [...]

By: Jennifer Chrisler, Executive Director, Family Equality Council On Wednesday, Washington, DC joined Connecticut, Iowa, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Vermont as the sixth jurisdiction with full marriage equality. The City Council passed the bill with overwhelming support last fall, and it was signed by Mayor Fenton in December 2009. Following the 90-day mandatory congressional review [...]

By Gary J. Gates, Williams Distinguished Scholar, Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law   LGBT families need to be visible and counted in the 2010 Census.  Census data gives a snapshot of the LGBT community and informs many of the public and private policies that impact the lives of LGBT individuals and their families.  The [...]

Earlier today Executive Director Jennifer Chrisler was a guest panelist on National Public Radio’s To the Point discussing the current Proposition 8 trial in California. Below is a recording of the program.a2a_linkname=”Family Equality Council Blog”;a2a_linkurl=”www.familyequality.org/blog”;

Moments ago, the D.C. Superior Court upheld the decision of the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics and the right and responsibility of the D.C. Council to protect the rights of minorities from discrimination. The court’s decision rejects a proposed ballot initiative that would have prohibited marriage equality in D.C. The ruling can be viewed [...]

Today, despite the inspirational leadership of Garden State Equality and elected leaders such as Governor Jon Corzine, the New Jersey State Senate failed to pass a marriage equality bill by a vote of 14-20. Statement of Jennifer Chrisler, Executive Director, Family Equality Council: “Today’s State Senate vote failed New Jersey’s families as well as the [...]

This article is cross posted at www.press-citizen.com. Josh O’Leary Iowa City Press-Citizen When Dawn and Jen BarbouRoske first exchanged rings 19 years ago, it was just the two of them alone in their living room, expressing their devotion to each other. After all that’s happened in the past year — court battles, press conferences and, [...]