Marriage Equality Passes in New York Legislature

Received this e-mail from GLAAD

Today marks a historic victory for the LGBT community, as the New York legislature passed a bill introduced last week that allows gay and lesbian couples to get married in the Empire State. New York State proudly joins five other states (Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire) and Washington, D.C., in allowing loving gay and lesbian couples the opportunity to marry. GLAAD continues to work alongside other LGBT organizations to advocate for marriage equality in New York State:
• GLAAD trained LGBT couples, like Henri Velandia & Josh Vandiver, Farid Ali Lancheros & Constantinou, and Dr. Alicia Salzer & Dr. Leslie Miller on how to effectively speak to the media, and pitched them to major news outlets in order to ensure that our voice was clearly and fairly heard. Salzer appeared on CNN, saying: “I think we're sending a loud and clear message about our families and our life (…) and who we are and our love...” It’s these images and stories that are moving Americans to support our equality.
Dr. Alicia Salzer & Dr. Leslie Miller

• GLAAD worked with several other community groups, like The Hispanic Federation, on how to effectively communicate the importance of this issue to the public. GLAAD-trained spokesperson Pastor Joseph Tolton told us: "The key to building stronger communities is creating an atmosphere which encourages couples to make a lifetime commitment to spiritual partnership. GLAAD has been an excellent partner in working with me to hone my message, being strategic about building a platform for issues that complement my experience and trusting me to bring my knowledge base to the forefront without compromise."
Pastor
Joseph Tolton

• GLAAD engaged in intensive media monitoring, combing through the broad media discourse over marriage equality in New York, to ensure that all coverage was accurate, factual, and fair.

• GLAAD partnered with Spanish-language media to ensure accurate reporting on the issue.

Today’s decision is about New York’s loving and committed gay and lesbian couples who want to make a lifelong promise to love and take care of each other and their families. Marriage equality in New York allows them to do just that. Become part of the movement and amplify your own voice by sharing what marriage equality means to you on GLAAD’s website; and stay up-to-date on marriage equality news at glaad.org/ny4m.


HOORAY!