NEWS RELEASE: New TV Ad Shows Marriage Brings Families Together in Florida
New television ad demonstrates the
growing support for marriage equality
Equality Florida and Freedom to Marry produced it
to air ahead of Supreme Court ruling
June 3, 2015
PANAMA CITY, Fla. – With the Supreme Court expected to rule on marriage by the end of this month, Equality Florida and Freedom to Marry today released a second television ad demonstrating the broad base of support for marriage equality.
The ad features 79-year-old Callaway, Fla., resident George Smith, an Air Force veteran, Baptist church trustee and father, who tells of the challenges he faced as a young airman trying to marry a British woman who was assumed to be white. He compares this story to his own personal journey of coming to support his daughter Nadine, from the turbulence when she came out as a lesbian to the day he walked her down the aisle.
"I am excited my father chose to share his personal story of coming to accept and support me in my marriage. I am reminded that his journey was not easy, but was propelled by his deep sense of love and family and justice,” said Nadine Smith, CEO of Equality Florida.
“Ultimately, my family’s story echoes those of families across the state who have come to support the freedom to marry and helped to push support for marriage in Florida to an all-time high."
"This ad is an important part of our ongoing work to tell the stories of same-sex couples and why marriage matters to them," said Marc Solomon, national campaign director of Freedom to Marry. "As George rightly says in the ad, family is everything. Tens of thousands of same-sex couples are raising children and building families across America who still don't have the protections of marriage. It's time for the Supreme Court to finish the job, do the right thing, and make the freedom to marry the law of the land."
The new ad is scheduled to begin airing Wednesday, June 3, in markets around Florida. In addition to this one, a previous ad continues to air across Florida.
Same-sex couples in Florida began marrying in January, even as an appeal of a federal judge’s ruling proceeded to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule this month on marriage for same-sex couples nationwide.
The ad can be viewed at eqfl.org/lovemustwin. Here’s a transcript:
When I tried to marry my wife Maureen in 1956, they assumed that she was white. There were many states that we couldn’t live. I said well what right have they to tell me who I can marry?
When I found out Nadine was gay, I was disappointed. Took me a while before the light came on.
The attitude that I had was the same attitude that the people who tried to discourage me from getting married in 1956. Let people get married, man! Whatever pitfalls there are, let them struggle through it.
Family is everything. We are family.
******
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.
Equality Florida is the largest civil rights organization dedicated to securing full equality for Florida’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. Through lobbying, grassroots organizing, education, and coalition building, we are changing Florida so that no one suffers harassment or discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity.