Marriage is a powerful and important affirmation of love, a source of social support and recognition, and the legal gateway to protections and responsibilities which are invaluable to the safety and security of every family.  Loving and committed couples doing the work of marriage in their everyday lives deserve the choice to make their commitment legal and be protected by law through marriage.

• Marriage Provides Protections & Responsibilities. The legal and economic consequences of marriage affect virtually every area of life, from access to health care to parenting and immigration rights, from Social Security benefits to transferring property without adverse tax consequences. These protections are due those who are already shouldering the responsibilities of caring for each other and their families.
  
  
• Marriage Protects Children & Families. All children deserve the right to insurance coverage, social security, emergency care and inheritance rights no matter who their parents are. All families benefit from the intangible reassurance that comes from knowing that your family is safe and secure.
  
  
• Marriage is a Matter of Social & Economic Justice. The inequities and the legal and cultural second-class status that exclusion from marriage reinforces affect all gay people, but fall hardest on the poor, the less educated, and the otherwise vulnerable.
  
  
• Marriage is Part of the American Promise: As defined by the United States Supreme Court, "The freedom to marry has long been recognized as one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men." Every American deserves fair treatment under the law and the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, the very rights our country was founded on.
  
  
• There’s No Substitute for Marriage. While civil unions and domestic partnerships represent significant advances toward recognition of same-sex relationships, they are not a substitute for full and equal marriage.
  
  
• Marriage Equality is About Civil Marriage, Not Religious Marriage.  This is not about forcing any church to perform or extend religious recognition to any marriages it doesn't want to. This is about the right to the civil marriage license issued by the state, which religious groups should not interfere with (just as the state should not interfere with religious ceremonies).

To learn more about the freedom to marry and what you can do to get involved, visit www.freedomtomarry.org