Marriage-Equality Group Seeks Young Conservative Support

On July 10 in Washington, D.C., Freedom to Marry, a national same-sex marriage campaign, launched Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry. The new group is aimed to build support among young people across America that identify as conservative.

You may well be scratching your head and asking, "Why bother?" But give it a listen: Many young conservatives want you to know that they believe that "freedom" and "family" are core values, and that marriage equality, rather than being scorned, should be embraced as a conservative notion.

"We have a historic opportunity to reaffirm these important values by supporting the fundamental freedom to marry for all Americans," said Margaret Hoover, a conservative media commentator and political strategist.

"Now is the time for a rising generation of voters and leaders to embrace these virtues and join Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry," said Hoover, a member of the group's leadership committee.

The new campaign is part of Freedom to Marry's desire to demonstrate broad and growing support for marriage across the ideological spectrum. In a release, Freedom to Marry said the group will make the case that "the freedom to marry should not be a partisan question, and that supporting the freedom to marry fulfills basic conservative values of responsibility and community, as well as limited government and individual freedom."

Members will work to encourage more conservatives to add a perspective that differs from mainstream conservative politics in this country. More importantly, Freedom to Marry officials told EDGE that the group will work to end laws in the states that bar same-sex couples from marriage, as well as the federal Defense of Marriage Act.

Straddling the Political Divide
"As Republicans," said U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) at the group's July launch, "we believe in limited government; and we believe that the best way for the federal government to spur growth and jobs is to get out of the way and let small and medium businesses thrive. We also believe in equality of opportunity rather than of outcome.

"Most importantly," she added, "we believe that the individual and the family are the central engines in our society. The right for individuals to lead their lives without government intrusion is a bedrock conservative principle and it is much more than just about sexual orientation. It is about the fundamental rights we all share as Americans, it is about equality for all with no exceptions."

Despite being on the right on most other issues, Ros-Lehtinen has long been a point person for gay rights on the Republican side of the congressional aisle. She co-sponsored the Respect for Marriage Act to repeal DOMA, among other issues. She represents some heavily gay areas in Dade County (Miami), including South Beach, Coconut Grove and Coral Gables, as well as Key West.

"The center of political gravity has shifted for good," Marc Solomon, national campaign director of Freedom to Marry, told EDGE. "The freedom to marry is fast becoming a bipartisan value embraced by all Americans who believe that love and commitment deserve support and protection. Freedom to Marry applauds this group of young conservatives for standing up to make the case."

Support for gay marriage has been accelerating and has grown on every side of the political spectrum -- including the right. In March, a poll by NBC and the Wall Street Journal revealed that Republican and moderate political grassroots support for marriage equality had grown by two-fifths since 2009. A May poll by ABC News and the Washington Post showed nearly half of self-identified Republicans between the ages of 18 and 44 approve of same-sex marriage.

In March, the Republican-controlled New Hampshire House voted down repeal of the state's popular marriage equality law, with a majority of the GOP voting against repeal. Last year, the GOP-led State Senate in New York made same-sex marriages legal in the Empire State. The four GOP state senators who bolted from the party (with the party chair's permission) gave impassioned speeches about fairness and their personal interactions with same-sex couples that resonated across the country.

The campaign to reverse a same-sex marriage ban in Maine includes 20 Republican state leaders who will campaign for the November ballot measure. "I certainly agree with the core Republican values of small and limited government," Stacey Fitts, (R-Pittsfield) said at a Statehouse news conference. "I find this to be the perfect match."

Leaders of Mainers United for Marriage, the primary group campaigning for the same-sex marriage measure, collaborated with the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine to launch the Republicans United for Marriage campaign.

Like the New York State Four, Clare Payne, a GOP attorney from Holden, Me., has had a change of heart over time. "As a Republican," she said at the same event, "I do not believe that government should prevent a same-sex couple from marrying."

In 2009, Fitts voted against a same-sex marriage bill that passed the Legislature, was signed by former Gov. John Baldacci and was later repealed by voters. He said he cast the vote out of loyalty to the Republican caucus. At the time, he said, it was the clear the measure would pass.

Since then, "I've thought about it a lot," he said. "It's OK to change your mind."

Leaders of the Log Cabin Republicans, the mainstream LGBT lobbying group in the party, "agree strongly" with U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), the House whip, that the GOP "needs to be a party of inclusion, not exclusion."

In an interview on the eve of the party's national convention in Tampa, Fla., the head of Log Cabin urged tolerance and acceptance of a diversity of opinion on issues including the freedom to marry.

"The Log Cabin Republicans motto is 'inclusion wins,' and it is encouraging to see conservative leaders like Majority Leader Cantor promoting that message as key to victory in 2012," said R. Clarke Cooper, Log Cabin Republicans' executive director.

He cited the current campaign of openly gay GOP congressional candidate Richard Tisei in Massachusetts and conservative champions like Ros-Lehtinen. "There is increasing support for LGBT equality within the GOP," he said. "The march to victory in 2012 and beyond will require a big tent, respecting diversity of opinion while uniting around the core issues that unite us as Republicans. We are grateful to Majority Leader Cantor for leading the way."

Taking Freedom 'Seriously'

Some conservatives like Craig Stowell, an Operation Iraqi Freedom Marine Corps veteran, see efforts to exclude same-sex couples from marriage as not only morally wrong but also completely off-task to his side.

"I take freedom seriously and want my best friend and brother, who is gay, to have the same freedom as everyone else to marry the person he loves," said Stowell, who also serves on the leadership committee of the Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry.

The more her group talks up marriage equality with other conservatives, "the more we can understand why the denial of marriage to same-sex couples is wrong," added Torrey Shearer, a D.C. lobbyist and another leadership committee member.

"Marriage strengthens families, encourages shared responsibility, and promotes stability in our communities," she noted. "There is really significant change taking place among conservatives -- especially young conservatives -- about the freedom to marry."