With less than a week until Election Day, ACLU affiliates and their coalition partners in states with questions regarding marriage for gay and lesbian couples on the ballot are intensifying their efforts to make history next week. In Maine, Maryland and Washington, voters have the opportunity to expand the freedom to marry to same-sex couples; and Minnesota voters could make that state the first ever to defeat a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman. Polling data in each of the four states is encouraging, but close. As we near the finish line, thousands of volunteers and coalition staffers are working hard to ensure that all loving, committed couples can marry. Here’s a round up of what’s happening on the ground:
Two weeks ago we brought you news about the four states that have marriage-related ballot initiatives this fall. As the election quickly approaches, each of the campaigns in Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, and Washington have begun running television ads that highlight the stories of individuals, religious leaders, and community leaders who support the freedom to marry. These ads show the underlying issue at stake this fall – that marriage, both for straight and gay couples, is about building a life with someone and making a commitment to take care of and love one another.
Marriage for same-sex couples is on the ballot in four states this November, and it will be a pivotal moment for the LGBT movement. In Maine, Maryland and Washington voters have the opportunity to expand the freedom to marry to same-sex couples; and Minnesota voters could make that state the first ever to defeat a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman. Even a single ballot box win would change the national debate and would reinforce the polls showing growing majorities across the country that support marriage for committed same-sex couples.
By Allie Bohm, Advocacy & Policy Strategist, ACLU at 10:46am
This week, the House Armed Services Committee has turned its attention back to the National Defense Authorization Act and began working on this year's bill. You remember last year's perversion that, for the first time in American history, codified indefinite military detention without charge or trial far from any battlefield? State legislators and activists and concerned citizens on the right and the left — and everyone in between — haven't forgotten.
