The Courage Campaign, the California-based LGBT online organizing network which has been a force in the battle against Prop 8 and other initiatives, jumped into the controversy surrounding Freedom to Marry, the group leading the fight nationally for marriage equality, calling the focus of Freedom to Marry’s latest effort “misplaced.”
Freedom to Marry came under intense criticism from some activists in recent weeks after the group announced its Win More States Fund, an effort to raise $3 million for fights in Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Washington. Activists charged that missing from the list of states was Maryland, where a bill granting marriage equality and signed by the governor will be challenged in a ballot measure in November, and North Carolina, where an amendment is on the ballot next month to ban gay marriage and civil unions in the state constitution.
Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom to Marry, defended the group’s actions, appearing on my radio program on SiriusXM OutQ two weeks ago: “This was not about abandoning [Maryland and North Carolina].And it was not about saying what people were doing on the ground [in those states] was not important. We have never said they’re not winnable or the money is not well spent. What we are saying is here are five battleground opportunities where we are putting our fight. Others are taking the lead in other places. We alone can’t do everything.”
Adam Bink, Director of Online Programs at the Courage Campaign, responded to Wolfson’s defense, appearing on my radio program this week: “I have all the respect in the world for Evan, but I think some of the focus may be misplaced. In North Carolina, you know, Election Day is about a month away. It’s [about] discrimination against not just marriage, but civil unions are banned. Domestic partnerships are banned, for same-sex couples and opposite sex coupes. It really regulates same-sex couples, especially, to
This article originally appeared on: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/07/courage-campaign-freedom-to-marry-gay-marriage-_n_1410120.html