MARRIAGE NEWS WATCH

Is Morgan Freeman Our Secret Weapon In The 2012 Marriage Battle?

This week’s all about Minnesota, Maine, North Carolina, Colorado, and Broadway. All four of those states have months of bitter fighting over marriage to look forward to, with millions of dollars likely to be spent on both sides. Fortunately, we’ve got a secret weapon: Morgan Freeman.

We have fifteen more months before the 2012 election and marriage fights are already heating up all over country.

In Minnesota’s, the battle over the anti-gay constitutional amendment could cost upwards of ten million dollars. Big donors are already lining up, and last year the National Organization for Marriage alone spent nearly three quarters of a million in Minnesota races.

By the way, if you’re wondering what NOM got for that money, the answer is: nothing. Their candidates lost.

Visit OutFront.org to help out in Minnesota, and take a few minutes to spread the word to any friends and family you might have in the state.

Meanwhile campaign machinery is already in motion in North Carolina. Phone banks in Asheville are up and running and targeting legislators who haven’t stated their position on a pending law that would ban not just marriage, but civil unions as well.

Visit EqualityNC.org to help out in North Carolina, and again, remember spread the word to any friends and family you might have in the state.

Signature-gathering started this week in Maine, where voters are likely to face a referendum on the marriage ban passed in 2009. They have just over four months to gather 80,000 signatures.

The National Organization for Marriage was just dealt a setback in Maine, with the First Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that the organization is required to disclose its donors. But they’re likely to attempt an appeal of that ruling, and it’s too early to tell if the issue will be resolved in time for the 2012 election.

Visit WhyMarriageMattersMaine.com to help out in Maine, and of course, don’t forget to spread the word to any family and friends you have there.

A new survey out this week shows that 71% of Coloradans favor legal recognition for gay and lesbian couples. That includes 44% of Republicans who support civil unions. We’re likely to see a civil unions bill in the 2012 legislative session.

Visit EqualRightsColorado.org to help out there, and, as always, tell your family and friends.

And finally this week, the cast was announced for Dustin Lance Black‘s new play, “8,” based on last year’s Proposition 8 trial. The play debuts next month at the Eugene O’Neill theater in New York, with a special one-night-only reading headlined by Morgan Freeman, Rob Reiner, Marisa Tomei, Cheyene Jackson, Anthony Edwards, among other A-list stars.

Vist AFER.org/8 to learn more about the play and get tickets.

And visit us over at MarriageNewsWatch.com for more on all these stories and more. You can sign up for daily email alerts of the top news headlines, and connect with us on Facebook and Twitter so you’re always in the loop.

We’ll see you next week.

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