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STATEWIDE MARCH FOR MARRIAGE EQUALITY
Activists from across Wisconsin join together to demonstrate the importance of marriage equality

SENT TO QUEST FROM FAIR WISCONSIN VIA EMAIL ON JULY 26 - On Tuesday, July 27, 2010, hundreds of marriage equality activists from across Wisconsin will gather in Madison to take part in the March for Marriage Equality.  The march will highlight the commitment of all couples – straight AND gay - to take care of and be responsible for each other.  In addition, the March for Marriage Equality celebrates the inclusive direction in which Wisconsin is moving when it comes to marriage.  The march is made all the more timely because it coincides with a planned visit to Madison by the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), an anti-gay organization whose “Summer for Marriage Tour” espouses that only heterosexual couples are deserving of the right to marry.
 
“We’re excited by the opportunity to demonstrate that marriage is also important to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community,” stated Fair Wisconsin Executive Director Katie Belanger. “The protections that marriage provides should be enjoyed by all couples in Wisconsin.  This isn’t about being gay or straight, it’s about allowing committed couples to take care of and be responsible for each other.”
 
“From the passage of domestic partnerships to the growing support for repealing our discriminatory constitutional amendment, Wisconsin is moving in the right direction and we won't take another step back,” Belanger continued.
 
The March for Marriage Equality is scheduled to begin at 11:00 A.M. with a rally at Library Mall on the campus of University of Wisconsin-Madison.  Speakers will address the crowd, including State Rep. Mark Pocan and Rabbi Jonathan Biatch of Temple Beth El in Madison.  Attendees will then march up State Street to the State Capitol.
 
Fair Wisconsin is proud to partner with the following organizations in hosting this event:  Freedom to Marry, GSA for Safe Schools, Human Rights Campaign, the LGBT Campus Center of UW-Madison, the LGBT Community Center of the Chippewa Valley, the Milwaukee LGBT Community Center, OutReach, PFLAG, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin, The Alliance of UW-Platteville, Atheists, Humanists & Agnostics of UW-Madison, Equality Across America, IMPACT of UW-Whitewater, ISO of Madison, Pride Alliance of Madison College, Proud Theater, Queer Straight Alliance of UW-Madison, 7 Rivers LGBT Resource Center of La Crosse, the Socialist Party of South Central Wisconsin, Valued Families and Wisconsin Capitol Pride.

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Fair Wisconsin, one of the state’s most respected advocacy groups, has a proud history in education, grassroots organizing, outreach, and political action in the cause of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) equality. With a statewide board of directors and a full-time staff, Fair Wisconsin is the only organization to represent the Badger state in the Equality Federation, the national alliance of state-based LGBT advocacy organizations.  Fair Wisconsin, along with our national and regional allies, recently helped enact important domestic partnership protections for same-sex couples, making us the first state with an existing constitutional amendment banning both marriage equality and civil unions to enact domestic partnerships. To learn more, visit www.fairwisconsin.com.