March 25-27 Rallies for Marriage Equality
Join us for history in the making as the Supreme Court considers landmark marriage cases
The Task Force is organizing around one of the most historic civil rights events of our time — marriage equality at the Supreme Court!
Please join us and hundreds of others who will rally outside the Supreme Court at the end of March as the nation’s high court hears oral arguments in two landmark cases.
Justices will hear arguments March 26 and 27 in cases challenging the Prop. 8 marriage ban in California and the discriminatory, federal “Defense of Marriage Act” (DOMA). Couples who have made a lifelong commitment to each other through marriage are being treated as strangers in the eyes of their own federal government. This is unconscionable, and as lower courts have deemed, unconstitutional.
The Prop. 8 and DOMA cases present the Supreme Court with a monumental opportunity to affirm our Constitution’s promises of liberty, equality and human dignity.
Rally with us outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C.
Monday, March 25
--Supreme Court Vigil on the steps of the Supreme Court
Tuesday, March 26
--A Prayer for Love & Justice: 7:30 AM at Lutheran Church of the Reformation
--United for Marriage Rally: 8:30 AM on the steps of the Supreme Court
--Parting the Waters: A Seder for Love, Liberation & Justice; 9:30PM at the Human Rights Campaign Equality Center
Wednesday, March 27
--United for Marriage Rally: 8:30 AM on the steps of the Supreme Court
Local Rallies
While we expect many people to attend the events in Washington, D.C., the vast majority of actions will be events organized in your local communities.
Learn about events in your area, or register your own event at United for Marriage.
Take Action
--Visit the United for Marriage page
--Like us on Facebook for updates
--Use the hashtag #time4marriage and follow us on Twitter
About the cases
Prop. 8/Hollingsworth v. Perry:
In May 2008, the California Supreme Court ruled in favor of the freedom to marry. An estimated 18,000 same-sex couples were married before the discriminatory ballot measure, Proposition 8, passed that November, amending the state constitution to exclude same-sex couples from marriage. Proposition 8 was found unconstitutional by the federal district court and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on the basis it violates our nation’s fundamental concepts of liberty and equal treatment under the law. A law that violates the Constitution — and Americans’ basic freedoms — cannot stand.
DOMA/United States v. Windsor:
The federal so-called "Defense of Marriage Act" unfairly excludes same-sex couples who are legally married from over the 1100 federal protections and responsibilities that the government provides to other married couples - like Social Security, unequal tax treatment, active duty military spousal and veterans’ benefits, unequal tax treatment in health insurance and retirement savings to name a few — to committed same-sex couples who are legally married in their own states. When same-sex couples are legally married in a state, it’s wrong for the federal government to discriminate against their marriages and their children.
