Dear Friends –

A year ago, Marriage Equality USA asked you to share your personal stories about the Prop 8 campaign, its harm, and our hopes for the future. We received over 3,000 responses and produced a series of reports using your feedback that you can find on our website (http://www.marriageequality.org/index.php?page=polls-and-studies). These reports have influenced organizations as they reflect on how they run their campaign operations and have been used in many forums to illustrate the harm that come from these anti-gay campaigns.

Last Tuesday evening, it was déjà vu again as we witnessed same-sex couples in Maine having their fundamental right to marry stripped from them by a mere majority of voters. But Marriage Equality USA and dedicated volunteers will not stop, we will continue to reach out to more and more Americans to share our stories on why marriage matters and why these campaigns are so destructive. We know that marriage equality will be a reality, it is just a matter of time and we ask you to continue to stay engaged on this journey.

As follow up to last year’s survey, Marriage Equality USA is launching a stories project. We want to encourage same-sex couples, their families, straight allies, and other community members to share their experiences on the impact and importance of extending the freedom to marry to all loving, committed couples. The stories we collect will be presented through a digital stories project that we will release during February's Freedom to Marry month.

If you could take 15 minutes to sit down and share your story we would appreciate it and we will use it. To facilitate this effort, we have created an on-line survey at: http://www.marriageequality.org/marriagestories/

The diversity of our experiences is important to share because there are so many people to reach. We must reflect the reality that we are truly everywhere, in every community and demographic. No one will do this for us, we must be the change we want to see in the world and it begins with sharing our truth. Your story may be the one that will make a difference for some conflicted but potential marriage equality supporter. So send in your story today and please spread the word.

Thank you and take care,

Pamela Brown and all our dedicated volunteers at Marriage Equality USA