Human Rights (2010 Q4)

Featured beneficiary in the HUMAN RIGHTS category for fourth quarter 2010:

MARRIAGE EQUALITY USA

MEUSA is a U.S. national 501c3 organization dedicated to securing the legal recognition of same-sex marriage through education and outreach.

Marriage Equality began as an idea in 1996 with a handful of activists believing that same-sex couples should have the freedom and the right to civil marriage, and angry that the U.S. federal government wanted to pass a law barring LGBT people from this right. 

In late 2000, the national organization Marriage Equality USA was officially founded. Since then other chapters have formed across the country and are chapters are growing every day. The organization's sole purpose and focus is to end discrimination in civil marriage so that same-sex couples can enjoy the same legal and societal status as opposite-sex couples.

Some of MEUSA's activities to date include:

• Began the Valentine's Day/Freedom to Marry Day Marriage License Counter demonstrations across the country where same-sex couples ask for marriage licenses from their city hall and county recorder's offices.
• The first organization (joint effort with Lambda Legal) to institute a comprehensive grass roots marriage and media training program for activists.
• Obtained support of our Marriage Declaration from council members, clergy, community boards, mayors, and other key people throughout the U.S.
• Sponsored the first-ever Same-Sex Wedding Expo in NYC, garnering solid support from gay and non-gay businesses.
• Created National Bridge Marches for Marriage Equality in San Francisco and New York City.
• Being acknowledged for shaping the civil marriage for same-sex couples discussion in the LGBT and non-LGBT communities. 

Photo by Staffordvaughan [CC-BY-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], from Wikimedia Commons.