Freedom to Marry Inc

Filing Period

Jan 1, 2012 to Dec 31, 2012

Signed

Oct 3, 2013

Return Version

2012v2.1

Gross Receipts

$4,324,528

Mission

Major Activities

Activity 2

Public engagement in the stateswinning more states is an especially urgent focus of freedom to marry's central marriage campaign, part of our strategy to create the climate for a supreme court ruling bringing national resolution. 2012 was an historic year for the marriage movement as we mounted successful campaigns to win marriage-related ballot measures not just in one state but in four: maine, maryland, minnesota and washington. Freedom to marry was deeply engaged in the efforts in those states and many others to engage the public in the conversation around marriage. With each state won we increase the population with access to the freedom to marry (as of jan. 1, 2013, 17% lived in a state with the freedom to marry and 42% lived in a state with some form of protections for same-sex couples by the end of 2012), and with each state we win, we come closer to our aim of creating a critical mass of states, setting the stage for victory nationwide.in two other states, new hampshire and iowa, we successfully deployed public education campaigns and in both states the repeal of the freedom to marry was prevented. Freedom to marry also laid a foundation for 2013 campaigns to push past civil union to the freedom to marry in several more states, including hawaii, illinois, new jersey, rhode island, and delaware. Two examples of state programs demonstrate the kind of work deployed. -new hampshire recognizing that the freedom to marry in new hampshire was at risk and might continue to be at risk for several years from right-wing forces in the state, freedom to marry launched a multi-faceted public education program in 2012 to continue to portray the affirmative value of the freedom to marry. Through earned media, online resources and some paid media, the program reinforced for granite staters the positive aspects of marriage for same-sex couples and for the state as a whole. At the same time those messages were adapted to the unique culture of the state. The messaging incorporated elements of the why marriage matters program while building on new hampshire's rich tradition of "live free or die." the messaging also highlighted how little support there was for repealing the marriage law. One annual poll conducted by dartmouth college showed the impact of all this work. In 2011, opponents to the freedom to marry had a slight plurality with 42.2% opposing and 41.5% supportive. In 2012, after the public dialogue, supporters outnumbered the opposition 55% to 30%. -minnesotathe lessons learned in developing the why marriage matters public education program were also critical to the foundation of engagement with the people of minnesota around marriage -- knowing that one-on-one dialogue has proven to be the most effective method for moving undecided individuals to embrace the freedom to marry. Working with groups in the state, freedom to marry helped reinforce those one-on-one messages with public education like the television ad [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obxkrlyh_ou&list=uuceiwho-j5lv-y9i_cb_daq] profiling a minnesota couple who have a gay grandson. In it the grandparents talk about their own journey of acceptance thereby reinforcing the core message that love and commitment is the reason gay couple want to marry and role modeling the journey others should take. The ad formed the core of a more than half million dollar public education campaign deployed during the summer of 2012. We did similar work in states from maine to washington, while freedom to marry also helped defend the freedom to marry in iowa. Our engagement spurred millions of conversations, generating momentum and growing acceptance for the freedom to marry.

Activity 3

Public engagement in the capitola critical element of our national campaign efforts is to make the case on capitol hill, inside the beltway, and throughout the country that the freedom to marry is a mainstream american cause, not a partisan cause. This helps grow public support, and most crucially helps create an environment for the us supreme court to rule in favor of dismantling discrimination in marriage once and for all. In 2012, multiple high-profile lawsuits challenging both doma and california's proposition 8 were making their way through the federal court system. In both cases, the key to maximizing our chances of winning was not just in relying on good lawyers, but shaping the climate in a bipartisan way. In partnership with our c4 arm, freedom to marry action, inc., and building on our successful work in new hampshire (which was dominated by a wide array of conservative viewpoints), we launched young conservatives for the freedom to marry mid-year. Young conservatives for the freedom to marry is a campaign to highlight and build support for the freedom to marry among young conservatives across america. We kicked off the campaign with nine spokespeople who represent the rapidly growing numbers of young conservatives across the country that agree all americans should be able to share in the freedom to marry. These right-of-center leaders received a day-long media and messaging training and now act as the principal voices for the group. Since the launch, the young conservatives have talked to reporters, published op-eds, and helped raise funds for the movement. Together they are working to represent young republicans, libertarians and conservatives and demonstrate the increasing support within the political right for the freedom to marry. In addition to the training and media attention, we have also developed a young conservatives for the freedom to marry website [http://www.freedomtomarry.org/pages/young-conservatives-for-the-freedom-to-marry] and facebook page and hosted an event at the republican national convention in tampa. This has produced extensive news coverage that reinforced the message that the freedom to marry is not a partisan value and is consistent with basic conservative values of responsibility and community, limited government and individual freedom. The campaign has been joined by well-known conservatives meghan mccain and margaret hoover who now regularly speak out for the freedom to marry, and with the election results of november, 2012, in hand even newt gingrich has acknowledged publicly that it is time for conservatives to reconcile themselves with the freedom to marry.all of this work contributed to the growing drumbeat of news inside the beltway about marriage and the increasing momentum of the movement. To reinforce the breadth of support the freedom to marry enjoys and find new ways to mobilize that support, freedom to marry also launched the respect for marriage coalition in february, 2012. A robust alliance made up of civil rights, labor, progressive, faith, student, health, legal, women's, and lgbt organizations the coalition began with just 50 groups and now has over 80 groups who have organized into three separate task forces to plan and execute different ways to coordinate communications, conduct outreach across the country, and engage thought leaders and others inside the beltway. The coalition seeks to speak with one voice and deploy activities in a truly aligned approach in order to maximize the impact of all of its members.the most important event in the federal realm in 2012, however, was the historic chat by president obama with abc news in which he became the first sitting president to embrace the freedom to marry. In his interview he modeled both why marriage matters and how he too completed his own journey of support for marriage. While historic in its own right, the president's announcement was hailed as helping drive up support for marriage among african americans, especiall

Filer

EIN

80-0544853