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Freedom to Marry Airs TV Ad on Marriage in Texas


Ad debuts as 5th Circuit Court of Appeals prepares to hear Texas marriage case

New York –(ENEWSPF)—January 5, 2015. Freedom to Marry began airing a statewide television ad this week in Texas featuring Fort Worth police officers who speak out in support of their gay colleague’s freedom to marry. The thirty-second ad began running yesterday in multiple Texas markets during news and public affairs programs and comes days before the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals hears oral argument in the Texas marriage case DeLeon v. Perry.

“Our ad shows Ft. Worth police officers standing up for their gay colleague‘s freedoms,” said Marc Solomon, national campaign director of Freedom to Marry.  “With poignancy, they remind Texans that anyone who puts their life on the line to protect other Americans should not be treated unequally or be denied the ability to protect their own family by being barred from marrying.”

The ad is part of Texas for Marriage, a joint campaign by Freedom to Marry and Equality Texas to amplify bipartisan support for marriage across the state. George W. Bush media advisor Mark McKinnon serves as a chair of the campaign.

Last year, a San Antonio federal judge, like more than 40 other judges appointed by Republican and Democratic presidents, ruled the state’s ban on marriage for gay couples is unconstitutional.  The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals will be hearing an appeal of the Texas case, as well as cases from Louisiana and Mississippi, on January 9.

The ad, on a two-day run in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, and El Paso, among other cities, can be viewed here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrhmlAlQEfw. A transcript follows.

Chris Gorrie:  I became a police officer in 2006.
Monica Jackson:  Chris makes a sacrifice everyday along with the rest of us.
Jay Doshi:  He puts his life on the line just like I do.
Chris Gorrie:  My partner Justin and I — we live together.  Eventually one day we’d like to get married just like everybody else.
Allison Fincher:  A lot of people think gay people shouldn’t be able to get married — that makes no sense.
Chris Gorrie:  Freedom is a big deal; the freedom to marry, the freedom to say what you want to say, and the freedom to do what you want to do.
Jay Doshi:  Texans believe in freedom and liberty and part of that is to be able to marry who you love, so Chris should be able to marry whoever he loves.

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Freedom to Marry is the campaign to win marriage nationwide. We are pursuing our Roadmap to Victory by working to win the freedom to marry in more states, grow the national majority for marriage, and end federal marriage discrimination. We partner with individuals and organizations across the country to end the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage and the protections, responsibilities, and commitment that marriage brings.

Source: www.freedomtomarry.org


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