10Couples.org

A High-Tech Fight for Marriage Rights

During March, the ACLU along with the Emmy-award winning production company Public Interest launched a new website that attempts to put a human face on the public debate about gay marriage.

10Couples.org features short streaming videos of ten long-term queer couples from across the country. They share their love stories, their ordinary lives working and raising families, and the difficulties they’ve faced under current laws–whether the issue is adoption, health insurance, or helping make decisions for hospitalized partners. The videos were also posted on YouTube.

The 10Couples videos are an effective, compassionate tool for outreach because they allow real couples to tell their stories directly to the American public, side-stepping the divisive screaming-head pundits who often dominate political debate:

“At 10Couples.org, Americans get to see that families headed by same-sex couples are pretty typical American families,” said Matt Coles, director of the ACLU’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Project. “Our families make the same commitments and face the same struggles, but we don’t have the safety net that government provides through marriage.”

Take Action!

• Visit the 10Couples.org Action Page which provides tools for taking meaningful action: links to partner organizations like Lambda Legal and Freedom to Marry, tips for talking about marriage rights with your loved ones, resources for fighting anti-gay legislation, and information about how to protect LGBT relationships under current laws, including tips for writing wills and giving power of attorney.