Gay Activists Join Forces To End DOMA

A week after President Obama announced his support for marriage equality 2 of the largest LGBT organizations are joining forces to end the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Freedom to Marry & Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) have launched Freedom to Serve, Freedom to Marry, a new national campaign that will highlight the stories of gay & lesbian military families harmed by the obscene & discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act. The campaign launched with the release of an online video illustrating the real injury inflicted on gay & lesbian military families who because of the federal government’s refusal to respect their marriages legally, are denied the support & protections that all other military families receive. This is all because of the ‘gay exception’ created by DOMA, America’s legally married gay & lesbian couples are denied 1,100+ federal responsibilities & protections including Social Security survivors benefits, equal treatment under U.S. immigration laws & the opportunity to take leave to care for a spouse. The Freedom to Serve, Freedom to Marry campaign will include video & other multimedia content spotlighting the harms of DOMA on military families, including the denial of health insurance, survivor benefits & access to military bases & housing for service members’ spouses. Additionally, the campaign will invite the public to sign an online petition calling on Congress to “end this discriminatory & unequal treatment of our service members & veterans by repealing DOMA.” Watch Video.....

Exclusive Audio Chat with Director Jeffrey Schwarz about his new must-see documentary VITO about gay activist Vito Russo. Russo was a founding member of 3 pivotal gay rights groups starting with the Gay Activists Alliance in the early 1970s. Russo was also a key voice in the creation of both Act Up the AIDS activist group credited with revolutionizing the federal approval process for new drugs & the influential media watchdog the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. Learn your LGBT history @ OUTTAKE VOICES™