1. There is some Texas-sized firepower behind the push to bring gay marriage to the state. Congressman Joaquin Castro, D-Texas,...
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) today endorsed marriage equality in a letter posted to her official senate website. Murkowski became the third Republican senator to endorse same-sex marriages with her announcement.
Murkowski joined fellow GOP Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) with her endorsement for marriage equality.
“I am a life-long Republican because I believe in promoting freedom and limiting the reach of government. When government does act, I believe it should encourage family values,” Murkowski wrote. “I support the right of all Americans to marry the person they love and choose because I believe doing so promotes both values: it keeps politicians out of the most private and personal aspects of peoples’ lives – while also encouraging more families to form and more adults to make a lifetime commitment to one another.”
Laura Bush, the wife of former President George W. Bush, recently spoke out against her inclusion in a Respect for Marriage video advertisement.
“When couples are committed, they ought to have, I think, the same rights that everyone has,” Mrs. Bush told CNN's Larry King in 2010 when asked if she personally supported marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples.
Other prominent political leaders, like former Secretary of State Colin Powell, former Vice President Dick Cheney and President Barack Obama are also included in the ad.
The pressure is being put on President Barack Obama to evolve on his stance of supporting gay marriage as four former Democratic National Committee chairs made a public statement today calling for marriage equality to be included in the party's 2012 platform.
The former DNC chairs are Howard Dean, Donald Fowler, Steve Grossman and David Wilhelm. They are joining Freedom to Marry's campaign, "Democrats, Say I Do."
The Democratic National Convention takes place Sept. 3 in Charlotte, N.C., where the state is currently undergoing a war to fight off a ban on gay marriage.
Freedom to Marry, one of the country's largest marriage equality advocates, has gathered mayors from across the United States to unify their support for same-sex marriage.
Houston's Annise Parker, Chicago's Rahm Emanuel, New York's Michael Bloomberg, Los Angeles' Antonio Villaraigosa and Boston's Thomas Menino are among the mayors joining together with Freedom to Marry to "expand public and political support for ending the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage."
Noticeably absent from the list of mayors is Atlanta's Mayor Kasim Reed.
While campaigning in 2010, Reed was criticized by Atlanta's LGBT community for his personal opposition to same-sex unions. At a townhall-style meeting in November centered on the 2009 Atlanta Eagle raid, Reed refused to answer whether or not his views on marriage equality have changed since his campaign to become the city's mayor, leading many to believe that his position has remain unchanged.
The national Freedom to Marry organization and LUSH Cosmetics at Perimeter Mall in Atlanta are locking lips to show their support for same-sex marriage.
The “Kiss and Tell” event takes place Saturday at stores across North America.
In Atlanta, same-sex marriage supporters — gay and straight — are asked to gather at the store in Perimeter Mall at 11:38 a.m. and take part in a kiss-in.
The time was specifically chose to represent the number of federal benefits and protections gay couples don’t receive because their marriages are not recognized by the federal government.
Oscar-winning actress Natalie Portman and her fiancé, Benjamin Millepied, have signed their names to Freedom to Marry’s “I Do” campaign, according to the national marriage equality organization.
“Natalie Portman and her fiancé, Benjamin Millepied, are in love, and believe all loving couples should be able to share in the freedom to marry without discrimination,” said Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom to Marry, on the organization’s website.
“That is why they are joining the more than 100,000 people on Freedom to Marry’s Say ‘I Do’ Open Letter calling on President Obama to do the right thing and become part of America’s majority for marriage,” Wolfson said.