FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ward Curtin – Ward@FreedomNevada.org
Marriage Coalition Announces Advisory Committee, Endorsements
Prominent Nevadans express support for the freedom to marry for all loving couples
LAS VEGAS – Freedom Nevada, the organization working to secure the freedom to marry for all committed couples in the Silver State, announced today the first members of a statewide Advisory Committee formed to guide next steps on the road to winning marriage equality in the state. Several prominent individuals and organizations have also agreed to endorse the effort. Freedom Nevada is a non-profit coalition founded by ACLU of Nevada, Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (PLAN), the Human Rights Campaign and Freedom to Marry.
“The Advisory Committee and the endorsement process are early steps to building a broad-based coalition built to secure marriage for everyone in Nevada,” said Freedom Nevada Campaign Manager Ward Curtin. “We’re building a comprehensive, bipartisan network to broadcast our story to the entire state.”
“I’m pleased to serve on Freedom Nevada’s Advisory Committee. Gay and lesbian couples want to marry for the same reason as anyone else: to make a lifetime commitment to the person they love,” said State Senator David Parks, the longest standing LGBT lawmaker in the state. “Clearly the organization Freedom Nevada is growing, and with it, so is the likelihood of winning marriage in the very near future.”
“Supporting marriage for all couples is an important step forward for America. No one should face discrimination when they hope to marry,” said Luz Marina Mosquera of Hermandad Mexicana Transnacional.
In addition to the Advisory Committee, Freedom Nevada also announced several prominent endorsements, including local business leaders and the state’s entire Democratic Congressional delegation.
Advisory Committee Members
- Assemblyman Elliot T. Anderson
- Senator Kelvin D. Atkinson
- Rabbi Ethan Bair, Temple Sinai, Reno
- Bishop Dan Thomas Edwards, Episcopal Diocese of Nevada
- Assemblyman James W. Healey
- Rafael Lopez, Dream Big Vegas
- Nora Luna, Las Mujeres Network
- Annette Magnus, Progress NOW Nevada
- Chris Miller, Chair of the LGBT Statewide Leadership Coalition, Sales Manager, A+B Printing
- Joshua C. Miller
- Luz Marina Mosquera, Hermandad Mexicana Transnacional
- Tara Newberry, Chair of LGBT Section of the State Bar Association of Nevada
- Ambassador Sigmund “Sig” Rogich, President, Rogich Communications Group
- Senator David Parks
- Senator Richard “Tick” Segerblom
- Senator Patricia Spearman
- Assemblywoman Heidi Swank
- Assemblyman Tyrone Thompson
- Erika Washington, Las Vegas Urban League
- Abundant Peace United Church of Christ, Las Vegas
Marriage Endorsements
- U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
- Congressman Steven Horsford
- Congresswoman Dina Titus
- Mayor Robert Alan “Bob” Cashell, Reno
- The Honorable Patty Cafferata
- Michael and Jenna Morton, The N9NE Group
- Culinary Workers Local 226
- Human Services Network
- LGBT Statewide Leadership Coalition
- Nevada Chapter, National Association of Social Workers
- Nevada State Education Association
- Nevada Women’s Lobby
- Union for Reform Judaism
- Nevada Advocates for Planned Parenthood Affiliates
Currently the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has scheduled to hear the landmark case challenging Nevada’s marriage ban in September (Sevcik v. Sandoval). The State Legislature has also approved SJR 13, which strikes the marriage ban from Nevada’s Constitution, but it must pass again in 2015 for a potential ballot campaign the following year.