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GayPASG Note: The ad was included in
our home delivery copy of the NYTimes today.
In wake of setbacks,
gay-marriage
backers place
newspaper ads
DAVID CRARY, AP from
mercurynews.com on the Web, July 25, 2006
NEW YORK, July 24 -- Three
major gay-rights groups are taking out full-page advertisements starting Tuesday
in 50 newspapers nationwide declaring their determination to keep fighting for
same-sex marriage rights despite recent court setbacks.
The media campaign will cost $250,000; its organizers said it was the
largest-ever purchase of print advertising space by gay rights supporters.
Roberta Sklar of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force said the ads would run
in papers around the country, from The New York Times to The Gazette of Cedar
Rapids, Iowa, to gay weeklies in Houston, Atlanta and San Diego.
The ads feature photographs of five same-sex couples who have been together as
long as 53 years and are endorsed by an array of organizations and individuals,
including 11 religious leaders and nine mayors.
"From coast to coast, millions of people and hundreds of organizations are
working to protect gay and lesbian families by ending their exclusion from
marriage," the ads say. "Along the way, there will be advances and
setbacks, but we will not stop until every American family is treated fairly,
with dignity and equality under the law."
The ad placement comes at an eventful time for the gay marriage debate.
Opponents of gay marriage have recently won important court rulings in several
states -- most notably New York. However, a proposed federal
constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage failed to win the needed two-thirds
support in both the Senate and House.
"There's no question the landscape is mixed," said Evan Wolfson of Freedom to
Marry, one of the three organizers of the ad campaign along with the task force
and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance against Defamation (GLAAD).
"This is a long-term conversation," Wolfson said. "Our job is to make sure
people hear about gay families and why marriage matters, and not be drowned out
by the horse race of the moment."
Signatories of the ads included the mayors of Boston, Los Angeles, San
Francisco, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Providence, R.I., Portland, Ore., West
Sacramento, Calif., and Palm Springs, Calif.
GLAAD's executive director, Neil Giuliano, said the ad campaign was a milestone
because of the strong support from straight political and religious leaders
"This clearly shows a maturing of the movement, broadening the base in our quest
for equality," he said. "It shows we have the capacity to speak loudly and
strongly nationwide."
Among other publications, the ads were scheduled to appear in The Fresno
(Calif.) Bee, The News & Observer of Raleigh, N.C., The Times of Trenton, N.J.,
and The Olympian of Olympia, Wash.
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