MARRIAGE EQUALITY USA ANNOUNCES SAN FRANCISCO'S DAY OF DECISION EVENTS IN RESPONSE TO CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT RULING ON PROPOSITION 8

Media Contacts:       
Molly McKay, Media Director (510) 332-0872,   media@marriageequality.org

Pamela Brown, Policy Director (510) 384-3655, policy@marriageequality.org

"Waiting for the CA Supreme Court decision on Prop 8 has been an absolutely gut wrenching experience," said Molly McKay, Marriage Equality USA Media Director.  "As Californians, we are all under tremendous strain worrying about the economy, our jobs, and our families.  On top of that, gay families have been living for months with the fear that the Court will allow a bare majority of voters to strip gay and lesbian families of their Constitutional protections and eliminate our marriages or just as bad, eliminate new couples’ ability to get married in the future as they meet, fall in love and want to marry.  If Prop 8 is upheld, we will have to somehow scrape together the money, time and resources to go back to the ballot box to eliminate the exception to the equal protection clause in the Constitution and have our families’ basic civil rights put up for another vote which means another grueling round of anti-gay attacks from our well-funded opposition."

"For our families, this isn’t about politics, this is personal," said Pamela Brown, Marriage Equality USA Policy Director.  "Being told that marriage is not an option for you is an absolutely devastating verdict to receive, after all Romeo and Juliet ended their lives upon hearing such news and they weren’t subject to a popular vote on whether or not they could marry.  Our kids are confused and don’t understand why people would do this to their families.  They are subjected to school yard bullies and taunts that their parents can’t or are not really married.  For years, our families have been living on an extremely emotional roller coaster.  We've been used as a wedge in Presidential elections, we've been given a window of six months to pop the question and plan a wedding, and we've had a mere majority of Californians vote to take away our fundamental rights.  Recognizing the strain our community has been under, win or lose, Marriage Equality USA has helped organize a series of community gatherings across the state for all Californians supportive of the freedom to marry to come together on the Day of Decision."

In San Francisco, we are asking Bay Area residents to unite for equality through a series of events: 

Monday, May 25^th 

·         There will be an interfaith prayer service at Grace Cathedral (1100 California Street) from 7-8:30pm

Tuesday, May 26^th 

·         There will be a service/blessing from 8:30-9:15am at St Francis Lutheran Church (152 Church Street) and then from 9:15-10am a march from the church to the California Supreme Court steps

·         Community members, clergy and same-sex couples will receive the Court decision from 10-10:30am

·         A community gathering will begin at 5pm at the steps of San Francisco City Hall and then a march from 6-7pm to the Martin Luther King memorial at Yerba Buena Gardens (4^th and Mission) where there will be a post-march gathering from 7-8:30pm.

In addition to the San Francisco events, there are over 50 other community gatherings occurring nationwide (see below).  For the most up-to-date information, go to .  www.marriageequality.org

"If we are told Prop 8 is upheld, we will come together in a statewide rally in Fresno to immediately organize and move forward to overturn that discriminatory amendment and return California to a place where all loving, committed couples can marry the person they love," said McKay.

Saturday, May 30^th 

There will be a march from Selma to Fresno starting at 8am in Selma, California.  At 1pm, there will be a rally at the Fresno City Hall (2600 Fresno Street).  For more information, go to http://www.meetinthemiddle4equality.com/

"And for Californians who are sick of hearing about gay marriage in the news, we are too," said Brown.  "We don't want to be in your living room, we want to be in our own.  We want to go back to focusing on our lives, not fighting for our freedoms.  But we will do whatever is necessary, for as long as necessary, to ensure all gay couples can once again have the right to marry the person they love and that our children can have the sense of security and protections that only marriage provides."

Founded in 1998, Marriage Equality USA is a national grassroots organization whose mission is to secure legally recognized civil marriage equality for all, at the federal and state level, without regard to gender identity or sexual orientation .  For more information go to www.marriageequality.org