Spring Break
Video related to this article is available below.Issue date: 2/13/07 Section: News
Groups speak out for gay rights
Jimmy Tobias
Americans enjoy 1,049 rights based on marital status.
But for gay Americans, the number drops.
Outside of Massachusetts, gay unions throughout the country are not recognized as legal marriages.
So yesterday, as a part of Freedom to Marry Day, Penn students, faculty and staff came together to try to end what some see as outright discrimination.
The 10th annual celebration, which is observed nation-wide, aims to draw attention to this discrepancy among American citizens.
And in Houston Hall, proponents of same-sex marriage showed their support yesterday afternoon by signing 223 petitions, eating a wedding cake and, for College freshman Lauren Every-Wortman, wearing a wedding dress.
The events were primarily sponsored by ALLIES, the on-campus gay-straight alliance organization, and were meant to raise awareness about marriage equality in America, said College junior and ALLIES co-chairman Tim Taylor.
Taylor, who is gay, said he would like, one day, to have the rights that are currently unattainable for him.
"I definitely plan on raising kids, so if I find anyone I want to do that with, I'd definitely like to get married," he said.
Freedom to Marry Day started ten years ago as a grassroots movement and is now celebrated throughout the U.S., according to Samiya Bashir, a spokesperson for Freedom to Marry, a New York-based organization that works to end what they see as national discrimination in marriage.
Bashir added that the organization uses a wide range of tactics, including litigation, legislation and public education, to fight against opponents who are "pushing forward misinformation, intimating that [gay] families and relationships are not as worthy as [straight] families and relationships."
This public-education category was conspicuously represented at Penn.
At the LGBT Center last night, three couples shared their stories of fighting for their right to marry with an audience of thirty people.
But for gay Americans, the number drops.
Outside of Massachusetts, gay unions throughout the country are not recognized as legal marriages.
So yesterday, as a part of Freedom to Marry Day, Penn students, faculty and staff came together to try to end what some see as outright discrimination.
The 10th annual celebration, which is observed nation-wide, aims to draw attention to this discrepancy among American citizens.
And in Houston Hall, proponents of same-sex marriage showed their support yesterday afternoon by signing 223 petitions, eating a wedding cake and, for College freshman Lauren Every-Wortman, wearing a wedding dress.
The events were primarily sponsored by ALLIES, the on-campus gay-straight alliance organization, and were meant to raise awareness about marriage equality in America, said College junior and ALLIES co-chairman Tim Taylor.
Taylor, who is gay, said he would like, one day, to have the rights that are currently unattainable for him.
"I definitely plan on raising kids, so if I find anyone I want to do that with, I'd definitely like to get married," he said.
Freedom to Marry Day started ten years ago as a grassroots movement and is now celebrated throughout the U.S., according to Samiya Bashir, a spokesperson for Freedom to Marry, a New York-based organization that works to end what they see as national discrimination in marriage.
Bashir added that the organization uses a wide range of tactics, including litigation, legislation and public education, to fight against opponents who are "pushing forward misinformation, intimating that [gay] families and relationships are not as worthy as [straight] families and relationships."
This public-education category was conspicuously represented at Penn.
At the LGBT Center last night, three couples shared their stories of fighting for their right to marry with an audience of thirty people.
Be the first to comment on this story