Additional Resources

One Wedding and...a Revolution

Reveals the inspiration, motivation and political challenges at San Francisco City Hall during the frantic days leading up to the first government-sanctioned same-sex marriage.
Organizations | Marriage Equality Timeline of Recent Events

Organizations

National Center for Lesbian Rights
NCLR is a national legal resource center with a primary commitment to advancing the rights and safety of lesbians and their families through a program of litigation, public policy advocacy, free legal advice and counseling, and public education. In addition, NCLR provides representation and resources to gay men, and bisexual and transgender individuals on key issues that also significantly advance lesbian rights.

870 Market Street, Suite 570
San Francisco , CA 94102
Phone: 415-392-6257
Fax: 415-392-8442
Email: info@nclrights.org

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
GLAAD is dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair, accurate and inclusive representation of people and events in the media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.

5455 Wilshire Boulevard , #1500
Los Angeles , CA 90036
Phone: 323-933-2240
Fax: 323-933-2241

Freedom To Marry
Freedom to Marry brings together the work of gay and non-gay organizations and their strategies of litigation, legislation, direct action, and public education -- into a larger, shared civil rights campaign that fosters heightened outreach to non-gay allies. Freedom to Marry also provides support to targeted state and local efforts.

116 West 23rd Street , Suite 500
New York , NY 10011
Phone: 212-851-8418
Fax: 646-375-2069
Email: info@freedomtomarry.org

Marriage Equality USA
Marriage Equality USA uses education, media campaigns and partnerships to raise awareness around and end discrimination in civil marriage to allow same-sex couples the same legal and societal status as opposite-sex couples.

P.O. Box 121
Old Chelsea Station
New York , NY 10113 -0121
Phone: 877-571-5729
Fax: 877-571-5729
Email: inquiries@marriageequality.org

Human Rights Campaign
As America 's largest gay and lesbian organization, the Human Rights Campaign effectively lobbies Congress; mobilizes grassroots action in diverse communities; invests strategically to elect a fair-minded Congress; and increases public understanding through innovative education and communication strategies.

1640 Rhode Island Avenue , N.W.
Washington , D.C. 20036 -3278
Phone: 202-628-4160
TTY: 202-216-1572
Fax: 202-347-532
Email: hrc@hrc.org

 

Lambda Legal
Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, the transgendered, and people with HIV or AIDS through impact litigation, education, and public policy work.

120 Wall Street , Suite 1500
New York , NY 10005 -3904
Phone: 212-809-8585
Fax: 212-809-0055


TOLERANCE.ORG
TALK TO KIDS ABOUT... Same-Sex Marriage As the debate over same-sex marriage engulfs the nation, parents should be prepared for children's questions. Tolerance.org's parenting columnist shares age-appropriate suggestions for talking to kids about the issue.
Read full article

Marriage Equality Timeline of Recent Events

May 5, 1993 - Hawaii State Supreme Court rules that denying lesbian and gay couples the right to marry violates the Hawaii State Constitution and sends case back to trial court for trial to determine is State can prove a compelling reason to support discrimination in marriage. Trial court eventually rules that the State failed to prove that denying marriage licenses to lesbian and gay couples was constitutional.

September 21, 1996 - President Clinton signs Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). DOMA has two parts. One part states that, for all federal purposes, marriage is only the union of one man and one woman. The second part provides that states do not have to recognize marriages of two people of the same sex entered into in different states.

July 1, 2000 - Vermont becomes the first state in the country to create a status that grants same-sex couples all of the state rights and responsibilities of marriage.

May 28, 2003 - Texas becomes the 37th state to adopt a Defense of Marriage Act, denying recognition of same-sex unions formed in other states.

June 10, 2003 - An appellate court in Ontario , Canada holds that excluding same-sex couples from marriage violates the Canadian Constitution. The decision immediately goes into effect and same-sex couples begin getting married that day. Previously, Belgium and the Netherlands had passed legislation allowing same-sex couples to marry.

November 18, 2003 - The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rules that preventing same-sex couples from marrying violates the state constitution. The court gives the Legislature until mid-May to comply with its decision.

February 12, 2004 - San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom orders the county clerk to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

March 11, 2004 - The California Supreme Court agrees to hear a case challenging Mayor Newsom's actions and orders San Francisco to stop issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. 

March 12, 2004 - The National Center for Lesbian Rights, joined by Lambda Legal, and the ACLU file a lawsuit in California court on behalf of six same-sex couples, Equality California, and Our Family Coalition arguing that denying same-sex couples the right to marry violates the California Constitution. On the same day, the City and County of San Francisco file a similar lawsuit. Over the summer lawsuits are also filed in Florida , New York , Washington , Oregon and Connecticut .

May 17, 2004 - Same-sex couples begin marrying in Massachusetts .

July 14, 2004 - The so-called Federal Marriage Amendment  fails to gather two-thirds Senate majority vote.

August 2004 - Trial courts in Oregon and Washington state rule that prohibiting lesbian and gay couples from marrying violates their respective state constitutions.  The cases are now pending on appeal.

August 12, 2004 - California state Supreme Court rules that Gavin Newsom did not have the authority to marry same-sex couples, nullifying over 4,000 marriage licenses.

2180 Bryant Street #203 , San Francisco, CA | Phone: 1-800-405-3322 | Fax: 415-641-4632

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