Equal Marriage NOW: Sample Op-Ed

Below is a sample of what your op-ed article could look like if you wrote to your local newspapers and other media outlets about the importance of equal marriage. Use it as a starting point, and get the message out!

A huge disparity exists in the way this country defines constitutional rights and decides who gets to enjoy those rights. In the 1967 landmark case Loving v. Virginia, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that marriage is a fundamental constitutional right under the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. The ruling meant that anyone in the U.S. should be able to exercise their constitutional right to marry, right?

Wrong. In spite of the Supreme Court's ruling, courts and legislatures still manage to deny certain people this constitutional right. Eleven states have laws banning same-sex marriage and 29 states have a constitutional ban restricting marriage to one man and one woman.

Why is equal marriage so important? Aren't civil unions and domestic partnerships good enough? No. Civil unions and domestic partnerships offer only an extremely limited version of the rights, privileges, and responsibilities granted in marriage -- from visitation rights and insurance coverage to tax benefits and inheritance. And it is not only the couples who suffer without these safeguards. More than one million children of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender parents in the United States are left without protections such as health insurance coverage and Social Security survivor benefits.

Fortunately, thanks to vocal activists and committed elected leaders nationwide, equal marriage is becoming a reality. Six states -- Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine -- have passed amendments recognizing the rights of same-sex couples to marry. The thousands of same-sex marriages that have taken place in these states over the last five years serve as evidence that equal marriage, in fact, does not ruin family values, the integrity of society, nor the sanctity of marriage -- contradicting the fabricated threats of the radical right.

While these great and momentous accomplishments deserve celebration and praise, some of these states still restrict marriage to residents only. Furthermore, only Washington, D.C., and New York recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states.

Every person living in the United States under the Constitution must be afforded the right to marry. Using the Constitution to assign second-class status to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender community is counterintuitive, counterproductive, and just plan unfair. For these reasons and many more, the National Organization for Women continues its rigorous Equal Marriage NOW campaign to engage our communities in a discussion about justice and respect for all families. As a civil rights, feminist organization, it is our mission to help create a more just society so that all individuals are treated with dignity and respect under the law.