New Jersey’s Chief Opponent of Marriage Equality Says Letting Same-Sex Couples Marry Would Not Affect His Marriage

New Jersey’s Chief Opponent of Marriage Equality Says Letting Same-Sex Couples Marry Would Not Affect His Marriage
February 20, 2008
New Jersey's chief opponent of marriage equality, John Tomicki of the New Jersey Coalition to Preserve and Protect Marriage, stated yesterday that marriage equality for same-sex couples would not affect his marriage. His sweeping, quite puzzled response, "Why would it?" demolishes the argument that ending discrimination in marriage would destroy the institution.

Lizz goes one on one with Evan Wolfson

Lizz goes one one one with Evan Wolfson
Shoot the Messenger
February 11, 2008
Evan Wolfson breaks it down for the good folks at Shoot The Messenger. Shoot The Messenger is a satirical wrap-up of the week's news from the brain of Daily Show Co-creator Lizz Winstead. A live sketch-comedy show incorporating multi-media elements, it gives us the world as seen through the filters of the fictional producers and on-air talent at Wake-up World - America's first and only 6 hour Morning Show which is coincidentaly on 24/7 America's first and only infonewsment network.

42:03 min

Evan Wolfson talks about Freedom to Marry Week on Coach Sappho's Live Podcast

Evan Wolfson on Freedom to Marry Week
Coach Sappho's Live Podcast
February 13, 2008
Wolfson discusses how Freedom to Marry Week is meant to prompt conversations about the inequality and exclusion that exists across our country, conversations we need to have every day of the week, every week of the year, until we end marriage discrimination. He notes there are a record number of actions and events taking place across the country with great press coverage and blog commentary. Wolfson also discusses the history of the marriage movement and the drive this year for the next state to win the freedom to marry.

60:00 min

WAMC New York Vox Pop: Governor Spitzer 2/12/08

In an hour-long call-in show called “Vox Pop” on WAMC Northeast Public Radio in Albany, Governor Spitzer talks about marriage equality. You can hear this three-minute discussion with “Vox Pop” host Alan Chartock beginning at 2’45” on the audio clip.

The Governor sharing his views in response to a caller named Phil who identified himself as man in his upper 70’s who has been in a relationship for over twenty years. He said about his partner and himself: “We Pay taxes, we vote, we pay our dues to our community.” His question for the Governor: “Do you have any sense that within our lifetimes the state will recognize our relationship so that we can benefit from the privileges and responsibilities that other married couples enjoy in New York State?”

PODCAST: Tom Little on the recent VT marriage hearings

Vermont Public radio interviews Commission on Family Recognition chair Tom Little for a progress report on the ongoing hearings addressing a move from civil unions to full marriage. He talks about how people come forward to talk at the hearings as overwhelmingly supportive of the freedom to marry for gay and lesbian couples.

PODCAST: Marriage for all with Evan Wolfson and Freedom to Marry Pt2

On part two of Evan Wolfson's conversation on A Closer Look with Minister Gerald Palmer, callers continue to express religious opposition to gay people and marriage equality. Minister Palmer reminds the listeners that religious teaching benefits, and is not harmed, by honest discussion about tough issues. Wolfson explains that many religious leaders are voices of equality for the freedom to marry.

17 min

PODCAST: Marriage for all with Evan Wolfson and Freedom to Marry Pt1

van Wolfson explains on A Closer Look with Minister Gerald Palmer that civil marriage is a legal institution, and the government has a legal obligation not to exclude or discriminate against one group of Americans. Listeners called in to express confusion about the difference between religious ceremonies and legal marriage licenses. Wolfson reminds listeners that it's very important as Americans that people respect other people's religions, and nobody is trying to force religions to do anything they don't want to do. Conversely, our government should not impose any one religious view on the rest of us, and religion should never be used as an excuse to deny American citizens equal rights.Fair-minded people do not want the government discriminating against other citizens, or imposing one religion's rules on everyone else.

17 min

PODCAST: Interview with Evan Wolfson from Freedom to Marry

A Shanty No Lemon's Anthony Anselmo interviews Evan Wolfson about the importance of telling our stories and explaining why marriage matters to each of us. By talking about values and making it personal and emotional, you can touch people's hearts as well as their minds -- and we all need to do that now to create space for politicians, candidates, and judges to rise to fairness.

21:56 min

PODCAST: Evan Wolfson discusses how marriage is important to the civil rights struggle for gay people nationwide

Evan Wolfson joined John Selig on OutSpoken Tuesday, July 31, 2007. He discussed what drives him in the fight for marriage equality, how it felt to be named one of Time's 100 most influential people, why the word "marriage matters," and how exclusion from the freedom to marry unfairly punishes committed same-sex couples and their families by depriving them of critical assistance, security, and obligations in virtually every area of life from the birth of children to death.

1hr 2min

Freedom to Marry: The Road Ahead

Equality is not just a gay issue! Marriage discrimination infringes upon the civil rights and freedom of every American, gay and non-gay. Listen to Evan Wolfson discuss the freedom to marry movement in its historical context, and underscore the urgency of galvanizing the hearts and minds of Californians. CA, the first state to strike down racial discrimination in marriage, was also the first to pass a historic marriage equality bill in both houses of its legislature in 2006, before its veto by Gov. Schwarzenegger. The people's representatives in the most populous state continue to do the good work that, up until now, judges have done in other states.

1hr 19min

Loving Day and the freedom to marry

Stuart Gaffney and his parents have something in common. His marriage to his husband and their interracial marriage were declared void by the law.


Broadcast: 06/25/2007

PODCAST: Professor Barbara Cox discusses the Loving decision on California Western School of Law's podcast Law in 10

Professor Barbara Cox joins Law in 10 on the 40th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision to strike down Virginia's law (Loving v. Virginia) prohibiting interracial couples from marrying. She talks about the significance of this decision and what we can all learn from it today.


Broadcast: 06/12/2007

MA Governor Patrick presents the case for marriage equality

On his official website, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick presented the case for why state legislators ought to vote down the proposed constitutional amendment aimed at taking away same-sex couples's freedom to marry.


Broadcast: 06/07/2007

Evan Wolfson discusses Loving v. Virginia on TalkBack! with Hugh Hamilton

June 12th marks the 40th anniversary of Loving v. Virginia, the landmark Supreme Court decision that advanced racial equality and the freedom to marry in America.

In 1967, Virginia residents Richard Loving and Mildred Jeter, an interracial couple, married in Washington DC. When they returned home, they were arrested for violating Virginia's Racial Integrity Act, which prohibited their marriage. The couple challenged the arrest all the way to the US Supreme Court. Writing in a unanimous decision, Chief Justice Earl Warren stated that banning interracial marriages constituted "invidious racial discrimination," thus violating the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

Committed, loving couples whose relationships had previously been treated with legal disregard and societal disrespect were finally able to marry.

Evan Wolfson discusses this landmark case and the celebration to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Loving decision spearheaded by a coalition of organizations led by Freedom to Marry.


Broadcast: 06/04/2007, 4:00 p.m.

Minnesota Public Radio hosts marriage debate

Richard Mohr, a professor of philosophy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and author of a number of books on gay rights, most recently, "The Long Arc of Justice: Lesbian and Gay Marriage, Equality and Rights," squared off with Dwight Duncan, a professor at Southern New England School of Law in Massachusetts, who got his degree at the Vatican. Mohr does a great job of articulating what marriage is really about.

Broadcast: Midday, 05/08/2007, 12:00 p.m.