At Family Equality Council we believe in the power of stories and personal narrative. And, guess what? It works:
(LA Times) Proponents of gay marriage, who traditionally frame the cause as a matter of equality and civil rights, are increasingly invoking something else: family. And the tactic seems to be working.
In February three state legislatures passed statutes making gay marriage legal, and in each case the appeal to family connections was a central feature.
“We need to ask ourselves: How would it feel to be a child of a gay couple?” asked Washington’s Democratic governor, Chris Gregoire, who signed the state’s legislation Feb. 13 after having announced her support for it a month earlier. “How can we tell these children that their parents’ love is seen as unequal under Washington law?”
A Washington state lawmaker who voted for the bill recalled her own marriage. “I was married for 23 years to the love of my life and he died six years ago,” said Republican Rep. Maureen Walsh in a video that went viral. “How could I deny anyone the right to have that incredible bond with another individual in life?”