Sometimes all it takes is sharing a story

Sharing your story is the easiest and often most moving thing you can do to help open hearts and minds about the freedom to marry. When we share our stories with family and friends, it puts a personal face on marriage. That’s what the Personal Stories of our website is all about, sharing our stories. More and more people keep sending us their stories, telling us why they support the freedom to marry for everyone. Do you have a story to share?

We’ve just added some more to the site, so check them out!

Read Liam’s story:

This movement has never been about the freedom to marry for me. I can marry the woman I love someday. I am, however, part of the queer community — my Mom and her partner Nellie have been my model for a healthy, committed relationship for 25 of my 26 years on this planet... read more…

Read Samantha’s Story:

… What many people who know this family don't realize until they are told is the amount of extra thought, effort, work, and cost that have gone into protecting this family... read more…

If we all share our stories with the people in our lives, more and more Californians will realize that love is love, and that we all deserve the freedom to marry, and the honor, security and protection that come with it.

An Important Partner

We’d like to highlight a key coalition partner for its hard work in Santa Barbara: the Pacific Pride Foundation!

The Pacific Pride Foundation proudly provides services to the HIV/AIDS and LGBT communities of Santa Barbara County. Lately they’ve been doing a lot of great work for Let California Ring, too!

Thanks to them, the February 5 Day of Action was a huge success, and they are continuing to help host events and house parties in Santa Barbara.

Here’s what Executive Director, David Selberg has to say:

The Let California Ring movement in our state is doing wonderful work locally to open hearts and minds about the freedom to marry for gay and lesbian couples. Yes, this could actually happen in California, just as it did in Massachusetts. Many of you have connected with Ted, who is working in our offices to help Pacific Pride Foundation organize this educational campaign. We need help identifying supporters throughout Santa Barbara County in the next three months to show grassroots support for marriage.

If you live in the Santa Barbara or Ventura area and want to get involved in the campaign, give Ted a call.

Ted Jackson
(805) 617-9239 Mobile
(805) 963-3636, x106 Office

Thanks, Pacific Pride Center!

The Freedom to Marry in California

March 4 is when it all happens. The California Supreme Court will hear oral arguments about the freedom to marry for all couple. The San Francisco Chronicle covers the historic court case:

The justices will hear a variety of defenses of the marriage law. Attorney General Jerry Brown's office argues that the domestic partner laws satisfy California's constitutional requirement of equal treatment for gays and lesbians. Schwarzenegger's office will present its view that discrimination based on sexual orientation should be judged less strictly than bias based on race or sex. Two advocacy groups will ask the court to uphold the law on the grounds that opposite-sex couples make better parents.

Read the whole article.

Our Just Say It campaign is an effort to convince the governor to express support for the freedom to marry as a defendant in the case. Sign the open letter.