marriage news watch

This Is What The End Of The Marriage Fight Looks Like

7-5 mnwOnly a few isolated locations in the country remain where same-sex couples can’t get married. Those opposed to equality are getting increasingly desperate, with stall tactics and long-shot legal games.

We’re also likely to see renewed attacks on other civil rights, so there’s still going to be a lot of work to do in order to protect equality. But the story of marriage is changing from something we’re fighting to achieve to something we’re actually living. That’s why as of this week Marriage News Watch is wrapping up.

An organization like AFER exists so that someday we won’t have to fight for equality. It started in the aftermath of Prop 8, and since then a lot has happened: AFER gathered together a bipartisan coalition to challenge marriage bans nationwide. We won in district court, in appellate court, and when the Supreme Court ruled in 2013, marriage was restored across California. That win was proof that we’d found a winning argument: that the Constitution’s guarantee of due process and equal protection extends to all couples, no matter their gender.

Since then, that exact same reasoning has been upheld in dozens of rulings, in courts all across the country. In just the last few years, we’ve restored marriage in California, public support has climbed by about two percentage points per year, and the freedom to marry has spread from state to state until it now covers the whole country.

From lawyers to activists to couples to politicians to regular folks, it’s impossible to identify all of the millions of people who played a role in defending equality for all. This is a victory to which we all contributed, whether by attending a rally, writing about why marriage matters, sharing videos like these, or simply by living our lives openly and honestly. So when you see the country realizing the freedom on which it was founded, you can feel proud of being a part of that.

For now, AFER’s channel will stay up; so you can always watch popular videos like the celebrity-studded broadcast of the play 8, or AFER’s journey to decision day, or this debunking of NOM’s crazy claims.

And although Marriage News Watch is wrapping up, Matt Baume will still be around. You can subscribe to his YouTube channel to see what he’s been up to, and follow him @mattbaume on Twitter.

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