Around the world, campaigns for marriage change hearts and minds
Right now, there are active campaigns to secure the freedom to marry for same-sex couples in dozens of countries around the world – spanning every continent and a wide variety of political contexts.
While each of these campaigns is rooted in unique cultural and political dynamics, they have in common the potential to harness the power of marriage as both a goal and a strategy – leveraging the marriage conversation to change hearts and minds about LGBTQ people.
Public campaigns for the freedom to marry are a unique opportunity to demonstrate that LGBTQ people are part of families and have the same need for family recognition as everyone else – helping to bring the needs and rights of LGBTQ people into a more familiar context for the broader public.
Not only does changing public attitudes toward LGBTQ people and their families have immediate, tangible impacts for the community, marriage campaigns have proven to yield an array of long-term benefits for LGBTQ civil society and democratic participation – including increasing overall support for LGBTQ causes, strengthening civic organizations, testing the implementation of new strategies to engage decision makers, training new generations of LGBTQ leaders, and instilling belief in activism, the rule of law, and effecting democratic change.
