Comments on
FREEDOM TO MARRY
FREEDOM TO MARRY is not just a movie about injustice and a system of unequal treatment under the law. It is movie about real American families and their struggle to exist while being denied the most basic of civil rights and responsibilities that are central to building a life together. The different families and relationships represented in FREEDOM TO MARRY eloquently illustrate both the emotional significance and the practical need for marriage equality for ALL of our family members and friends.
PFLAG highly recommends this movie for anyone who wants
an in-depth and compelling personal insight into the marriage equality movement.
~Ron Schlittler,
Executive Director, PFLAG - Washington, D.C.
Excellent documentary. I am very impressed. As you know voters in Texas will decide in Nov. on the gay marriage issue.
I think the video will educate the public. I am gonna show this to the LGRL Lesbian and Gay Rights Lobby of Texas.
~ NICK PAPATONIS ‚ AGTV - AUSTIN GAY TV
When newly-elected San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom allowed same-sex couples to marry in February 2004, he created a political firestorm that has yet to be extinguished. Luckily for gay couples everywhere, Laurie York and Carmen Goodyear were on-scene with their video camera, and their friends, to
document this historic moment in gay and lesbian history.
With the comedy of Margaret Cho and interviews with pro-marriage advocates, FREEDOM TO MARRY chronicles the historic event with interviews with friends of the directors, people in San Francisco on that day, and footage shot as York and Goodyear were married on February 13, 2004, following a ten-year partnership. This documentary has been called "quietly earth shattering" and is a must-see for anyone interested in a new look at same-sex marriage and the fight to make it legal.
~2004 Southwest Lesbian and Gay Film Festival
I am so glad FREEDOM TO MARRY is doing so well. Congratulations. I think
film is one of the best tools we have to fight this fight.
Best wishes,
Jennifer Morris
Festival Co-Director, Frameline29
SF International LGBT Film Festival
Carmen and Laurie,
My 2 DVDs arrived today; thanks so much for the fast shipping.
I think you’ve done a great service and given us a great tool, and now it’s up to me to get busy spreading the word. İSo many people may think they understand, but I think that so often they really don’t comprehend the entire scope of this issue. İAnd, as we all know, there are all those people who sit with their arms crossed and their ears and hearts closed, and it is those people especially that I’d like to reach with your DVD.
I’m not an aggressively social person, and I’ve never been an activist of any kind, but I think FREEDOM TO MARRY will give me the jump start that I need. İMy partner and I deserve to marry, and I want to world to understand—even if that has to be accomplished one person at a time.
Thanks, again, for your efforts on behalf of so many.
My best to you both,
Kevin Gowen
North Bethesda, Maryland
“A government cannot be premised on the belief that all persons are created equal when it asserts that God prefers some.”
~Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun, 1972
Subject: Wow! Your Film!!!
Hi Carmen and Laurie;
Too crowded tonight to get a chance to talk to you
both and tell you how proud I am of you two and how amazed I am at your
fabulous film! I knew you guys were talented film makers when you showed
us your smaller films about the puppies, jelly fish, 4th of July and the
one about Vicki Fraser, but Freedom to Marry is way over the top! Yeah and
congratulations to you! It is so wonderful to see how powerful art can be
and how much good can be generated in the world by people like you who
really use their gifts. I love you both!
~Kristin Otwell
Dear Laurie & Carmen...
I FINALLY had a chance to watch FREEDOM TO MARRY... and OH - MY -
GODDESS!... It was GREAT! I cried through the entire thing. I was a mess.
Beautiful work.
Namaste!
~Christine Rose
Director/Producer, LIBERTY BOUND
Dear Carmen and Laurie:
I apologize for not getting back to you sooner but hurricanes Frances and Jeanne have disrupted our community tremendously. Francis had winds up to 115 mph and stayed over us for 20 hours. Three weeks later, Jeanne, packing winds of up to 120 mph hit, us dead center. The devastation was enormous. To give you an idea: 12% of our existing housing was condemned; another 15% was damaged so badly that major repairs must be made before they are safe to live in; 1200 people are homeless and at least that many are staying with friends. Slowly but surely we are picking up the pieces and things are approaching normal.
Your DVD of FREEDOM TO MARRY was given to the Adult Religious Education Committee for their review. It was then passed on to the board which was so moved that they established a Welcoming Congregation Committee to put together a full blown program with resources for affirming bisexual, gay, lesbian and/or transgender people. I am on that committee. We will present a complete, year long program with materials from the UUA in Boston and your FREEDOM TO MARRY DVD will be included. All this in the most religiously conservative area in FL and in a state that bans same sex marriages.
This note barely describes the scope of what we are going to do, but know that it is BIG for this small town in Florida and you two were a moving force behind it. I think this note tells you what we thought of your efforts. We will try to help here.
All the best to you both,
Bill
Hi Laurie and Carmen,
I wanted to thank you both for sharing your wonderful documentary with
us over here in Georgia. The movie was a huge hit. In fact, I am
putting a link on our web site so people can purchase it and will
promote it at future events.
Thanks again for sharing your wonderful artistic creation with us!
Kathy Kelly
Executive Director,
Marriage Equality Georgia, Inc.
The film plays well to neutral audiences and to people who are not sure what to believe when it comes to the issue of marriage equality. It is an excellent educational documentary.
Thomas Dunn - UUSF
Thanks for making such a powerful film. It really brings home the cost of
the lack of rights, and should be seen by all people who think there isn’t
much to marriage. So many rights are tied to it!
With love,
Martha McDevitt-Pugh
Founder and Chair, Love Exiles Foundation
My husband and I were the very first gay couple to get married from the
state of Alabama (2-16-2004). We greatly appreciate what you have done for
our community, and for producing this monumental documentary!
Very Sincerely,
James Parker & Eric Oliver
Mobile, AL
Thank you for producing such a spectacular film!
~Lynn Matlock, Frankfort, KY
Americans who do not support gay marriage most likely have not given much
thought to the issue. Educating everyone is the key to helping them
understand gay marriage is about equal rights for all citizens. This website
will serve that purpose; to help educate.
~Don Wiki
FREEDOM TO MARRY documents the stunning celebration which began on February
12th, 2004 in the city of San Francisco when new, straight, married Mayor Gavin Newsom felt compelled
to recognize the rights of same-sex couples to be treated equally. Included
in the film are passionate comments by comedian Margaret Cho. This
courageous act of compassion has caused an explosion of emotion on both
sides and if you were not fortunate enough to be in San Francisco for this,
don’t miss this chance to experience one of the most important events in the
historic fight for civil rights for gays and lesbians everywhere!
~Mo Ratel,
Director, Austin Gay and Lesbian
International Film Festival
Loving thanks to both of you, Carmen and Laurie. I went (to your screening)
tonight because I was interested and because I wanted to support your
endeavor. I never ever expected to be so deeply affected. I sat there in
tears for most of the film. It was amazing and soul-opening. Thank you so
much.
~ Gerry Grace
Artist, Teacher, and Poet
Mendocino, California
7/02/04
Dear Laurie and Carmen:
My husband, Michael and I received a postcard in the mail about the documentary.
We were married on Feb 16, 2004 at City Hall in S.F. as well. We waited in Line from Feb 15, 2004 until the next day (the 16th). It was horrible weather as well that night. It rained from midnight until sometime early in the morning. But, we stuck it out, because we wanted to show our love for each other, be a part of history in the making, and to show everyone that thinks same-sex marriage is not right what exactly we, as a same sex couple wanted; the right to marry the person we each love, each other. After all, it is just the same rights they have. I also would like to know how many heterosexual couples would sleep in the pouring rain overnight on a public sidewalk waiting to get a marriage license? I doubt very few, if any would go to the extremes that we all had to endure.
Thank you for making the documentary and we look forward to watching it.
Sincerely,
Alfred & Michael Adams
Dear Laurie and Carmen:
We just wanted to let you know that we received the DVD and watched it as soon as we got it. It was wonderful.
Hats off to the two of you for a job well done!!!
I wish you get it aired on TV so everyone could see it.
By the way, did you send a copy of the DVD to Mr. Bush. Not that he would watch it, but you never know? Maybe it would help to open his mind and eyes to finally realize that we are not going to disappear or just go away and hide. That we are respectable responsible adults that have rights too.
Well, once again, Thank you!
Alfred & Michael Adams
With tears rolling from our eyes and our hands held tight, my girlfriend and
I watched FREEDOM TO MARRY last night. It was the most enlightening
documentary I have seen. We were both so moved by the presentation of the
film, the style in which it was formatted and the direct content included.
We are grateful to you both for holding a port for people from all over the
world to access this kind of knowledge and understanding.
My girlfriend and I have been engaged for almost a year and on October 9th,
2004, Australia is holding the Federal Election, and same sex marriage is
one of the "hot topics" for our communities. We’d like to order 10 DVD’s to
give as gifts to our friends and families. What starts with a spark should
ignite into flames.
Again thank you and peace to you both.
Sydney, Australia
I think this film needs to be shown in every town and every place possible!
Thank you for such a gift.
~Jacqueline Frank
NEWS AND COMMENTS ON GAY MARRIAGE:
Calif. NAACP group backs gay marriage
The California chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People (NAACP), one of the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights
groups, has endorsed a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in California.
The bill, the "Religious Freedom and California Civil Marriage Protection
Act," would allow same-sex couples in the state to marry by changing a
statute defining marriage as "a civil contract between a man and woman" to a
contract "between two persons." The bill’s first hearing by the Assembly
Judiciary Committee is scheduled for April 26.
"In a place like California, you cannot possibly work for rights if you
don’t work for gay rights," said Alice Huffman, California NAACP president.
"You either believe in the rights of everyone or you are in the wrong
business."
A resolution to support the bill was passed at the NAACP California State
Conference last October, but its announcement was not made public until this
week to coincide with the bill’s upcoming hearing. The resolution also
opposes any attempts to change the U.S. Constitution to ban same-sex
marriage.
"As the premier civil rights organization, the NAACP is concerned with the
protection of the civil rights of all people," said NAACP legislative
advocate Bertha Gorman.
"Civil rights, as we know, is not limited to one people, it is the
protection for all. We know that ’separate but equal’ does not work," Gorman
told the PlanetOut Network.
Patrick Letellier, PlanetOut Network
published Wednesday, April 6, 2005
Does anyone else think that it’s ironic that, at the same time our armed
forces are risking and losing their lives to protect personal freedoms
abroad, legislators in our nation and state are working diligently to limit
personal freedoms here at home?
We, as a nation (supposedly), stand as a model for freedom and morality.
Yet, how can we say that we fight for freedom around the globe when our
"moral values" prompt us to limit personal freedoms for some of our citizens
for no other reason than discomfort with a misunderstood lifestyle? In our
nation’s history, the only U.S. constitutional amendment passed that placed
limits on these personal freedoms—Prohibition—was quickly repealed, but not before fertilizing the soil for organized crime.
Many states have had laws and constitutional amendments on their books—such as those opposing interracial marriage—that we look back upon as archaic, oppressive and inconsistent with the ideals of a free society. It saddens me to know that Idaho is considering legislation that promises future regret and/or embarrassment. Nonetheless, since history tends to be a good predictor of the future, I hope that those who are directly affected or just plain offended by such efforts will remain optimistic, since the freedoms for
which our nation stands ultimately will prevail.
~Steven Lawyer,
Pocatello, Idaho
Gay Marriage Constitutional Ban Fails
In Conservative Idaho
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
BOISE, Idaho —A proposal to write a ban on same-sex marriage into the Idaho
Constitution was defeated today for the second consecutive year. A statutory
prohibition remains in force.
The constitutional measure had majority support in the state Senate in a
21-14 vote. But that fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to send
the constitutional amendment to a vote of the people. Eight Republican
senators and six Democrats voted against.
The amendment would have invalidated any type of marriage or civil union
except those between one man and one woman.
~By Chuck Oxley
The Associated Press
RED WILLIAMS (Age 88)
In Red’s opinion, "People who oppose gay marriage have edited the pledge of
allegiance to say ’With liberty and justice for all, except people who are not like them."
Red Williams was born in rural Texas in 1915. He and wife of 60 years, Alvah Wells Williams never questioned their opinions of sexual minorities until they learned that their son, Don, was gay.
Knowing that the things they were taught about homosexuals were not true of their son led to a re-evaluation of many previously unquestioned opinions.
Red farmed, raised horses, and worked in the copper mines of Arizona before moving to Southern California at age 85.
Don says of his dad, "Don’t try to tell him that gay people should not be
allowed to get married. Dad knows two guys who love each other."
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