conference a few months back, when he revealed that his
position on marriage equality in California had abruptly
changed?
For weeks we thought he was going to veto a San Diego City Council
vote to support the side of equal marriage in the In Re
Marriage cases. On the contrary, he’s now given us one of
the most powerful scenes in the history of our fight.
We recently found out that OUTSpoken Families,
people who were trained by Family Equality Council staff to tell
their personal stories to make change, were paramount in the last
minute efforts to change the mayor’s mind. One of our members,
Marci Bair, a lesbian mom and former program director of Family Matters,
a San Diego-based group for LGBTQ families, was instrumental in
bringing the OUTSpoken Families trainings to three California
cities last February.
Marci’s testimony, and that of several other San Diego residents,
many of them OUTSpoken members, helped move Mayor Sanders from a
civil union supporter to an advocate for same sex marriage.
“I am very proud of Mayor Sanders for supporting his own family and
now fighting for full LGBT rights for our community,” said Marci.
“And I am proud of all of the LGBT and supportive families that
have spoken out on this issue and are making their voices heard to
help change the hearts and minds of people everywhere. The
OUTSpoken Family Trainings are excellent for everyday families that
at one point or another in their life may have the opportunity to
change history and make life better for all of our families.”
You can watch the video of Mayor Sanders changing his mind on
marriage here.
We want to say thank you to Marci and all of the great OUTSpoken
Families who stood up and told their very personal stories for
change. If you’re interested in having an impact like Marci’s,
sign up to be OUTSpoken
today!