Changing The Conversation About Gay Marriage

by lisa ~ May 21, 2009

The New York State Senate is set to vote on a bill to legalize gay marriage now that it has passed the Assembly. In a state bifurcated by downstate liberals and upstate conservatives, it’s not surprising that New York is lagging behind Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, and Iowa in legalizing gay marriage.

It’s possible that a move to change the conversation surrounding this issue will help the bill pass the Senate and move on to New York Gov. David Paterson, who has said that he will sign it into law. Instead of “gay marriage,” advocates are talking about “marriage equality” - a shrewd PR move.

The most recent group to begin using this more neutral, less political term is a partnership of the Manhattan Young Democrats, the New York State Young Democrats, and affiliated groups. Earlier this week, they launched an initiative in support of marriage equality. Their Web site (http://www.newyorkequality.com/) asks people “to STAND UP and SPEAK OUT for New York Marriage Equality.” It allows people to send emails to their state senators, print out letters to mail themselves via snail mail, or type up letters to the editor.

As of yesterday, people had written about 1,500 letters to politicians in 423 cities and towns across New York State - only 30 hours after the site launched! It’s aided by media coverage ranging from Perez Hilton to Politico.com.

To find out more about the Manhattan Young Democrats and the way they have changed the conversation about gay marriage, click here: http://gomyd.com/

Lisa Tibbitts (Lisa.Tibbitts@Me.com) is a New York-based corporate communications professional with an MBA in marketing. Follow her on Twitter: http://twitter.com/FinancialPR.

###