Oregon's Marriage Equality Campaign: Love Belongs to Everybody

by Michael Jones · 2010-08-03 18:10:00 UTC
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For the time being, we know that the battle for marriage equality will happen on a statewide level, as federal lawsuits on the issue of marriage equality meander through the courts. And 2011 could be a big year for statewide marriage equality, as legislation will potentially move forward in places like Rhode Island, Minnesota, and maybe New York (again).

Another state where a campaign for marriage equality is likely to continue is Oregon, where folks at Basic Rights Oregon are laying the groundwork for an eventual repeal of the state's constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. One weapon in their arsenal? A stepped up web campaign called Marriage Matters To Me, where everyday people -- our neighbors, friends, and community members -- talk about why marriage equality matters, and pledge to have ordinary conversations with Oregonians about why marriage matters.

Their first video? It's a doozy, and it features four couples (two straight, two gay) talking about why marriage equality is important. And the moral of their narrative is simple: love is love, and it belongs to everybody.

Here's the video:

Kind of moving, right? It's these kinds of conversations that, over time (perhaps over more time than many of us would like...), people start to change their hearts and minds on the issue of marriage equality. If you live in Oregon, and you want to submit your own video, you can do so here. As the campaign writes, "By creating and sharing a video with their families and friends about why marriage matters to them, people are acting on their basic values. And they are bringing us closer to the day that all Oregonians can share the values of love, commitment and protecting their families through civil marriage."

There are several other videos currently up on the site, as well.  Embedded below is one of them (my personal favorite), where an American-as-apple-pie couple talks about how they came around on the issue of gay marriage, and how it's important for them to teach their children that all people deserve the right to be happy. Two other videos are available here and here.

Photo credit: Vinni123

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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