Freedom to Marry Sets Weekend Engagement
As activists continue to pour resources into the four states that will vote on marriage equality this November, Freedom to Marry is taking their fundraising efforts to major cities across the country.
Freedom to Marry is hosting a joint “National Engagement Party” in six cities: Los Angeles; Palm Springs, Calif.; San Francisco; Miami; New York and D.C., on Saturday to reach a $250,000 fundraising goal. The group has already raised $241,829.
Saturday’s D.C. event will be hosted at the Kalorama home of Drew Murphy and Michael Golder. Murphy, a senior executive at NRG Energy, and Golder, a psychiatrist, have been together for 25 years. The co-chair of the reception is Todd Weiler, a veteran and former Pentagon official.
Guests at the D.C. event will include Scouts for Equality founder Zach Wahls and Freedom to Marry National Campaign Director Marc Solomon.
Wahls has become one of the LGBT-rights movement’s most visible straight allies after testifying against a proposed state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage before the Iowa House Judiciary Committee in January 2011. The son of lesbian parents, the video of his testimony quickly went viral. Wahls, who is also an Eagle Scout, has since founded Scouts for Equality in order to fight the Boy Scouts of America’s ban on out gay members and leaders. In September, he also addressed the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C.
The fundraiser is just one of several events being organized by marriage-equality supporters in the run-up to the November election.
Last night, Marylanders for Marriage Equality hosted a reception at the Hotel Palomar near Dupont Circle to raise money for pro-marriage-equality efforts in Maryland.
In September, former speechwriter for President George W. Bush and journalist David Frum hosted a cocktail reception at his home in Wesley Heights in support of marriage equality in Maryland.
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