On Valentine's Day, same-sex couples will once again request marriage licenses at their local county clerk's offices in cities all over the country. These actions will not only draw attention to the lack of marriage equality between heterosexual and LGBT Americans, but it will also raise awareness about the harms the inability to marry cause on LGBT families.
"Since 2001, Marriage Equality USA chapters have engaged in annual marriage counter-actions to render visible the discrimination that is enforced every day and to highlight the need to overturn discriminatory laws. It is an affront to our basic dignity as fellow human beings when same-sex couples are turned away from the marriage counter, but it gives us the opportunity to tell our stories and show that we live in every community and want to honor and protect our families like everyone else," said Molly McKay, Marriage Equality USA Media Director.
"Whether we are married, domestic partners, in a civil union or legal strangers under our particular state's law, all same-sex couples are denied the 1,138 federal rights of marriage," said Robin McGehee, Director of GetEQUAL. "GetEQUAL is joining Marriage Equality USA to urge President Obama, Congress and all states with discriminatory laws on their books to stand for justice and equality for all people, as the Constitution requires, and work together to uphold the American tradition of fairness and equality by ending marriage discrimination."
For a complete list of Valentine's Day actions go to http://www.requestmarriage.com.
