Press

Leaders of Marriage Equality for Same-Sex Couples Gauge the Louisiana Results and Look Ahead To Similar Votes in Other Battleground States

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"I think everyone recognizes that one of the primary reasons that these amendments are being unleashed on us is to energize the far right folk, to turn them out to vote for conservative candidates, including President Bush. By that measure, I think our opponents in Louisiana failed, that this amendment, a hot button issue, did not turn out the electorate in the way they thought." — Matt Foreman from the September 19 press conference.

NEW YORK CITY, September 19, 2004, New York City — Today, leaders from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Louisiana's No on 9 campaign, Oregon's No on 36 campaign and the No on the Amendment campaign in Kentucky held an audio press conference to discuss (a) the outcome of the September 18 vote in Louisiana on a state constitutional amendment banning equal marriage rights for same-sex couples; (b) the potential impact of similar votes that will occur in up to eleven other states on November 2 on the U.S. presidential race; and (c) how the battles in these other states are shaping up.

The participants [Matt Foreman, Executive Director, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Dave Fleischer, Task Force Director of Organizing and Training, Aisling Coghlan, Campaign Manager, "No On 36 Campaign" - Oregon, Sarah Reece, Campaign Manager, No On the Amendment - Kentucky, Tim Hornbach, Executive Director, Forum for Equality, Louisiana] provided a from-the-field political perspective on the current campaigns as well as an historical analysis of past anti-gay ballot initiatives. For example, when faced with a gay-related measure for the first time in 1988, Oregon voters - like those in Missouri and now Louisiana this year - approved the measure. Since then, however, Oregon voters have defeated three successive anti-gay ballot initiatives in 1992, 1994 and 2000.

"We have to realize where we are. We're in the Deep South and in the Bible Belt. But we did well. We took it on the chin. We lost. But we also won. We have a stronger infrastructure now. Where there were no groups present we do have them now, and they're throughout the state." - Tim Hornback, Louisiana

The issue of same sex marriage will be on the ballot in ten and possibly eleven states on November 2. In addition to Kentucky and Oregon, the states include Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah and the key battleground states of Michigan and Ohio.

"Louisiana and Missouri both tell us something about where we start on the issue of same sex marriage with the American public. But what they don't tell us is where we're going to finish." - Dave Fleischer, Task Force Director of Organizing and Training

"We know that if we get our message out to voters on this issue, that what this ballot initiative would do is put gay and lesbian Oregonians on an unequal basis and also put that into our constitution&.we know that voters will vote no, that voters who are undecided will vote no, that voters who are yes voters starting out will vote no." - Aisling Coughlan, Oregon

"The most frequent question I get asked, is can you really beat this in Kentucky. And, again, it goes to the stereotypes that folks have about southerners. And the answer is yes. We have two goals in this campaign. One is to win on Election Day and the second is to strengthen fairness and equality for all Kentuckians by building long-term progressive political power." - Sarah Reece, Kentucky

"What is happening to our community for pure partisan gain is profoundly unfair. And by that I mean to put up a fundamentally human right on the ballot to be voted on is simply wrong. That's why our founding fathers were wise enough to have a Bill of Rights. I think they understood that unless those guarantees of freedoms were enshrined in the Constitution we couldn't win them through legislators or in a popular vote." - Matt Foreman

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The mission of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is to build the political power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community from the ground up. We do this by training activists, organizing broad-based campaigns to defeat anti-LGBT referenda and advance pro-LGBT legislation, and by building the organizational capacity of our movement. Our Policy Institute, the movement’s premier think tank, provides research and policy analysis to support the struggle for complete equality and to counter right-wing lies. As part of a broader social justice movement, we work to create a nation that respects the diversity of human expression and identity and creates opportunity for all. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., we also have offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis and Cambridge.