SUGGESTED ACTIONS

• Stage a mock wedding ceremony on the courthouse steps and include wedding traditions such as breaking a wine glass or throwing a bouquet. The guests can hold NOW rounds and signs supporting same-sex marriage as the couple drives away in a car marked "Just Married--sort of," draped in streamers and balloons. These events make great photo opportunities.
• Make a huge heart-shaped Valentine's Card and have it signed by as many people as you can at meetings, coffee houses, concerts and work. Deliver the card to legislators on Valentine's Day.
• Make Valentine's Day cards that include the message: "Have a Heart: Support loving, committed lesbian and gay relationships." Deliver big red bags of the cards to legislators and pass them out to people on the street as they pass by.
• Take big, red, cardboard "broken hearts" to the steps of city hall to protest the fact that loving lesbian and gay unions are not legally recognized.
• Organize a speak-out with lesbian and gay couples of diverse groups discussing how marriage discrimination affects their lives. Have non-lesbian and gay married couples discuss the benefits they receive because they are allowed to marry.
• If your state has passed an anti-marriage law, plan a rally on the capitol steps to protest the injustice of the law and the detrimental effects on lesbian and gay couples' lives.
• Arrange for a same-sex couple to apply for a marriage license. Invite the press and stage a photo opportunity as they are being denied the license.
• Write your local newspaper and call talk radio shows to express your support for same-sex marriage (sample letter to the editor).
• Send photos and Valentine's wishes from same-sex couples to the local newspaper for publication.
• Push your local paper to include same-sex wedding and anniversary announcements. Announce the new development at a press conference.