Evan Wolfson's Oregon Appearances

Freedom to Marry

November 11, 2009

As noted in our blog last week, Freedom to Marry's Executive Director, Evan Wolfson, made a number of appearances in Oregon last week as part of Basic Rights Oregon's drive to put an initiative on the Oregon ballot as early as 2012 to lift the constitutional ban on marriage equality that was passed in 2004. At personal appearances in Portland, Bend and Eugene, as well as on various local radio and television shows, Mr. Wolfson made the case for Why Marriage Matters, and why it's so important for LGBT people to have conversations and share their stories.

A list of links to local coverage of Mr. Wolfson's appearances:

PRINT: NEWS
The Oregonian (Graves)
http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2009/11/group_launches_drive_for_same-.html

Associated Press
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/6420ap_or_gay_marriage_oregon.html

Seattle Post Globe http://www.seattlepostglobe.org/2009/11/02/investigatewest-oregon-gay-rights-activists-launchdrive-to-legalize-same-sex-marriage
The Advocate http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2009/11/02/Oregon_Gay_Rights_Group_Take_First_Step_to_Repeal_Marriage_Ban/ The Corvallis Gazette Times http://www.gazettetimes.com/news/state-and-regional/article_7d9d6e13-e37d-5bb9-90e4-77ff7f31f4cd.html

The Register-Guard Shewided.com http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/news/cityregion/22477803-41/story.csp

Willamette Week http://blogs.wweek.com/news/2009/11/04/what-washington-and-maine-election-results-meanfor-same-sex-marriage-in-oregon/

The Portland Mercury http://m.portlandmercury.com/portland/ArticleArchives?tag=Basic%20Rights%20Oregon

PRINT: EDITORIALS
The Source Weekly http://www.tsweekly.com/opinion/guest-commentary/the-truth-about-marriage-civil-rights-expertto-take-on-marriage-equality-in-bend.html
The Oregonian Editorial Board http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2009/11/a_big_leap_forward_in_the_stat.html

PRINT: BLOGS
The Oregonian (Mapes) http://blog.oregonlive.com/mapesonpolitics/2009/11/gay_marriage_advocates_look_to.html
Just Out http://blogout.justout.com/?p=11868
Loaded Orygun blog http://loadedorygun.net/tag/Evan%20Wolfson
Eugene Weekly http://blogs.eugeneweekly.com/node/1279
The Oregonian (Griffin) http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/anna_griffin/index.ssf/2009/11/maine_vote_on_gay_ marriage_inf.html

TELEVISION:

PORTLAND
KATU (ABC) http://www.katu.com/news/local/68795977.html
KGW (NBC) http://www.kgw.com/video/?z=y&nvid=411117,
http://www.kgw.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D9BNJ1O00.html
KOIN (CBS) http://www.koinlocal6.com/news/local/story/The-Campaign-For-Gay-Marriage-Gets-Personal/bFJE0y4ztka1vS7rolgm1A.cspx
FOX 12 (FOX) http://www.kptv.com/news/21502634/detail.html

BEND
KOHD (ABC) http://kohd.com/news/local/147467
KTVZ (NBC – Central Oregon) http://www.ktvz.com/Global/story.asp?S=11427152

EUGENE
KMTR (NBC) http://www.kmtr.com/news/local/story/Gay-rights-group-pushes-initiative-for-2012-ballot/GgfgLVUeDEmZkoZrwPPkWw.cspx
KEZI (ABC) http://kezi.com/news/local/147431 , http://kezi.com/news/local/147740

OTHER
KDRV (ABC – Medford) http://kdrv.com/page/147617
KOMO (ABC – Seattle) http://www.komonews.com/news/local/68807232.html

RADIO:
OPB http://news.opb.org/article/6134-gay-rights-group-aims-overturn-marriage-ban/
KINK FM http://www.kink.fm/pages/5579963.php
KLCC http://www.klcc.org/Feature.asp?FeatureID=1396
KPOJ http://www.620kpoj.com/cccommon/podcast/single_podcast.html?podcast=thom_hartmann.xml

Oregon Group Launches Drive for the Freedom to Marry

The Oregonian
November 2, 2009
Basic Rights Oregon, which plans to put an initiative on the 2012 ballot that would lift Oregon's ban on marriage equality, will hold rallies Monday night in Portland, Tuesday night in Bend and Wednesday evening in Eugene. Evan Wolfson, founder and executive director of Freedom to Marry, will speak at all of the Basic Rights kick-off events: "[Marriage] is one of the most important statements we make about who we are,” he said. “It is so important to commitment and love that most people wear the symbol of it on their hands.” [Link]

Get more information on Oregon events here.

Guest Op-Ed: Evan Wolfson - Why Marriage Matters

BlueOregon
October 30, 2009
Join Evan Wolfson and Basic Rights Oregon in kicking off this important dialogue in three locations next week:

Monday night 11/2: Due to a fire at SEIU HQ, the event has been moved to Portland State's Smith Center in the Vanport Room, #338
Tuesday night 11/3: Bend, Oregon at Old Stone Church, 157 NW Franklin Ave, at 7 p.m. -- and if
Wednesday night 11/4: Eugene, Oregon at the Public Library, 100 W 10th Ave, at 6 p.m. More event details here. And join the dialogue at MarriageMattersOregon.org.

Christopher and Patrick, an Oregon couple, registered for a domestic partnership so they would be protected in the event of a crisis. But earlier this year, when Christopher was gravely ill in the hospital, Patrick was told that he couldn’t be at his partner’s bedside. Why? Because they were not married. The hospital staff said Patrick was not considered “family.”

One of the reasons partnership laws like Oregon’s aren’t good enough is that they pointedly – and pointlessly – withhold one of the main protections that comes with marriage: being married.

Marriage matters. When you say those simple words – “We’re married” – there’s no doubt what it signifies. It says “we’re family” in a way that no other word can. It’s a universally understood expression of love, commitment, and the heartfelt desire to take responsibility for the ones we love. Marriage is a building block for strong families and strong communities and, for most of us, a personal commitment so important and defining that we wear its symbol on our hand.

This is the common-ground starting point from which Oregonians can begin a meaningful conversation about why marriage matters to all couples in loving long-term relationships – including Oregon’s caring, committed gay and lesbian couples.

I’ve been all around the country and talked to thousands of gay and lesbian Americans and their families. I’ve seen gay couples raising great kids, struggling to make ends meet, worrying about their aging parents, and caring for one another in sickness and in health. They share everyone’s hopes and dreams, including the dream of a legal commitment to match the personal commitment they live out day-to-day, doing the work of marriage with the person they love.

Denied the freedom to marry, these families are denied the safety net marriage brings, touching every area of life from birth to death, with taxes in between. Yet legal protection isn’t the only concern; there is also the question of fairness. At its heart, the conversation about why marriage matters is as basic as the golden rule: Treat others as we would want to be treated.

Fairness and respect for each other are basic American and Oregon values. We honor these values when we ensure that all our neighbors have the opportunity to create a family with the love, commitment and protection that the freedom to marry offers. In America, we simply don’t make one set of rules for some, and another set for others.

These values of family, freedom, and fairness are why we need to start a conversation in Oregon – now, today – with our families, friends and neighbors, about why Oregon’s exclusion of committed couples from marriage must end.

This upcoming week, I am joining with Basic Rights Oregon to launch a grassroots effort to get Oregonians talking to each other about extending civil marriage to same-sex couples. The more we talk with the people around us – each of us the most effective ambassador to those in our lives – the more we help them think through how they’d feel if they were denied the freedom to marry the one they love, and how unnecessary this harmful exclusion is. Each one of us can, and should, engage people in conversation about why marriage matters. After all, there is no marriage without engagement.

Evan Wolfson is founder and executive director of Freedom to Marry, and author of "Why Marriage Matters: America, Equality, and Gay People’s Right to Marry." [Link]

Freedom to Marry's Evan Wolfson to Speak in Bend, Oregon on Tuesday, November 3rd

tsweekly.com
October 28, 2009
The Human Dignity Coalition announces a talk by Evan Wolfson, named by Time Magazine as "one of the 100 most powerful and influential people in the world." "He will give us all the confidence to speak about why marriage matters so that we can begin having crucial conversations...neighbor to neighbor, friend to friend."

Evan Wolfson
7 p.m. Tuesday, November 3
Old Stone Church, 157 NW Franklin Avenue
Bend, Oregon
385-3320 or http://www.humandignitycoalition.org/.

[Link]

Evan Wolfson, Executive Director of Freedom to Marry, Featured in July 2009 Issue of "Current Biography"

From Current Biography® Volume 70, Number 7, July 2009, published by The H.W. Wilson Company, Copyright © 2009.

Please visit http://www.hwwilson.com/currentbio/curbio.html for additional Current Biography® information.

Read full Evan Wolfson article [Here]

Going on a Jeep Tour... as a Marriage Equality Advocate

By Andrew Eddins

Freelance Contributor,

Freedom to Marry

August 19, 2009

Some of you may have read my post a couple of months ago about re-connecting with high school friends and talking about the freedom to marry. I blogged about stepping outside my comfort zone to discuss marriage equality with people I hadn’t seen or talked to in years. Sometimes just speaking up is all that’s needed to change minds.

My partner and I spent last week in Sedona, AZ enjoying the striking red rock scenery. One of the highlights of our trip was a jeep tour of some of the electromagnetic vortex sites for which the area is famous. There is said to be enhanced spiritual energy at these sites to go along with their breathtaking beauty.

Our jeep driver/guide picked us up at our hotel with a husband and wife from Austin, Texas already aboard. We then stopped at another hotel to pick up a mother and her college-aged daughter who we soon discovered were also from Texas (Dallas) as we all introduced ourselves. My partner and I, being from New York City, were instantly the “exotic” members of the group.

At the first vortex site we visited, there was time allotted for meditation and exploration, and I found myself chatting with our guide about his interest in Native American spiritualism and political activism. The conversation segued to what I did for a living, and sensing a sympathetic ear, I casually mentioned my work at Freedom to Marry.

Back in the jeep on the way to the next site, amid conversation about the wonders we had just seen, the guide told the group about his deep commitment to land conservation and Native American rights. He then announced that I had a similar cause I was involved with. The husband from Austin quite naturally asked, “Oh, what cause is that?”… And there I was again, facing down stereotypes and fears thinking, “A jeep full of Texans in Arizona and I’m going to talk about marriage equality? Come on!”

I took a deep breath and plunged in, explaining where I worked and what we were working to achieve. It was such an absurd moment of full disclosure that I actually chuckled and added that the group was certainly getting the full New York experience on this tour. Everyone laughed - all of us aware of the pre-conceived notions and nervous energy ricocheting around the jeep. As I explained a little more about why marriage matters so much, though this was clearly outside the group’s normal social conversation, I was relieved to hear general assent coming from all parties.

The tour continued, with my self-outing seeming to have relaxed the group. There was much more laughter and kidding going on, with everyone sharing more of their personal information. We became co-adventurers rather than Texans or New Yorkers, straights or gays. A couple group members even took the opportunity to approach me at the remaining sites to ask questions about federal and state positions on marriage equality - questions I was happy to answer.

Our tour ended amid a rare raging thunderstorm, with all of us soaked to the skin and laughing uproariously in the back of the jeep. As each couple climbed out at their hotel, we all grinned and said goodnight like old friends. Maybe it was all the ‘positive energy’ we had picked up at the vortex sites – but I suspect it was just that communication had once again triumphed over fear.

Basic Rights Oregon (BRO) Launching Marriage Matters Campaign

Just Out
July 29, 2009
BRO Press Release: To win public support for the freedom to marry, we need to open up a real dialogue with Oregonians. This means talking to people face-to-face, and explaining why marriage matters to committed gay and lesbian couples. [Link]

Coretta Scott King: Racism and Homophobia are the same thing

AMERICAblog
July 11, 2009
There's a reason the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force links the issues of African-American civil rights and gay civil rights: Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King's widow, told them to. Mrs. King has made clear on numerous occasions (excerpts in this article) that groups that try to speak on behalf of African-Americans about civil rights often have no idea what they're talking about. [Link]

Auto club challenged over treatment of gay couples

Southern Voice
June 26, 2009
John Imming, member service vice president for AAA South, said that his club has decided to limit the associate discount to spouses and dependents, but leaves it to the individual to determine their relationship. Imming said that if a gay couple presents as married, they will be treated as a married couple, but if they use the terms boyfriend, girlfriend or partner they will likely be turned down. [link]

Rosie speaks for marriage on The View

AfterEllen.com
November 6, 2006
Rosie is back on TV on that daytime staple The View. And what a change has occurred in her since she unhinged those closet doors. She regularly refers not only to her children, but also to her wife, her in-laws, her now-rescinded marriage in San Francisco, marriage equality in general, Evan Wolfson and his book Why Marriage Matters, and how important gay civil rights are to a civilized society. [Link]

NTERVIEW: The battle to say "I Do"

Mother Jones
October 10, 2005
Beckel interviews Evan Wolfson who has been in "the trenches of gay rights advocacy, leading the charge to end the exclusion of gay couples from marriage" for over 20 years. They discuss his book, Why Marriage Matters: America, Equality, and Gay People's Right to Marry and the continuing momentum of the marriage equality movement. [Link]

NTERVIEW: Author Evan Wolfson brings a lawyer's clarity to the discussion of same-sex marriage "rights" and "rites"

BuzzFlash
August 15, 2005
BuzzFlash interviews Evan Wolfson, author of Why Marriage Matters: America, Equality, and Gay People's Right to Marry and head of Freedom to Marry. A review in the Oregonian said it best: "Armed with Wolfson's arguments, you could sell anyone with an IQ over room temperature on the wisdom and humanity of marriage equality." [Link]

LIBRARY JOURNAL: Book review, Why Marriage Matters

Library Journal (July 2004)
July 13, 2004
Wolfson shows that marriage has changed in meaning over the years and points out how similar fears were raised in the 1960s to justify denying marriage to interracial couples. [Link]