Marriage Equality California
Founded1999
FounderL.J. Carusone, Mark Levine
DissolvedMerged with Equality California in 2004 [1]
Type501(c)(3)
FocusGay rights
Location
Area served
California, US
MethodCampaigning, Advocacy, Public Speaking

Marriage Equality California (Marriage Equality CA, or MECA) is the now defunct California chapter of Marriage Equality USA. Founded in 1999, MECA was the grassroots organization fighting to secure the legal recognition of same-sex marriage through education and outreach in California.[2] Its mission statement is to secure the freedom and the right of same-sex couples to enter into legally recognized civil marriage, having all the federal and state benefits and responsibilities which that entails. Marriage Equality California merged with Equality California in 2004.[1] Most of the work performed by Marriage Equality California is now performed as a local project of its original parent organization Marriage Equality USA.

History

Under the leadership of L.J. Carusone and Mark Levine, the Marriage Equality California Chapter was created. On February 14, 2000, at a protest in Beverly Hills, Marriage Equality California became one of the first marriage-equality organizations in the country to organize a "mass-marriage protest" at a city clerk's offices on Valentine's Day, a tradition that has continued every February and spread throughout the 58 counties of California and to New York City.[3][4] Levine writes he:

promised the police and court officials that we would not be violent in any way. And court officials, in turn, graciously agreed to waive the marriage license fee, since we all knew they would reject our attempts to get married. I remember it was a beautiful day, and a joyful one: We all smiled ear-to-ear knowing we were attempting something that was then impossible but which every one of us thought would eventually become possible.[5][6]

Marriage Equality California was entirely volunteer driven with no paid staff, and educated Californians through rallies & demonstrations, educational programs, outreach, and media representation.

From 1999 to 2002, Marriage Equality California was the primary advocate for marriage equality in California, and was an advocate for California Assembly bill 1338, California's first civil-unions bill and the second civil-unions bill in the nation after Vermont's. Introduced February 23, 2001, AB 1338 was the first law in the United States that would have given full state and federal marriage rights to gay and lesbian couples. (Vermont gave only state rights.) The original version of AB 1338 providing the option for same sex-couples in California to enter into a civil union after the original legislation, co-drafted by co-founder Mark Levine was withdrawn, according to him, for being too "pro-equality" for gay people.[7][8][9][10]

See also

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 Bajko, Matthew S. (27 April 2006). "McKay leaves EQCA". Bay Area Reporter. Archived from the original on 24 February 2012. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  2. ↑ "Cengage Learning". www.cengage.com. Retrieved 2019-05-31.
  3. ↑ "InsideBayArea.com: Oakland and East Bay News, Sports, Jobs, Cars and Real Estate". nl.newsbank.com. Retrieved 2019-05-31.
  4. ↑ "Marriage Equality USA Freedom to Marry Day Marriage Counter Action!!!". Archived from the original on 27 July 2011. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  5. ↑ MarkLevineForCongress (30 March 2014). "Mark Levine is a pioneer in the Marriage Equality movement | Blue Virginia". Retrieved 2019-05-31.
  6. ↑ Levine, Mark (26 June 2013). "Vindication for the Long Fight for Marriage Equality". HuffPost.
  7. ↑ ftp://www.lhc.ca.gov/pub/01-02/bill/asm/ab_1301-1350/ab_1338_bill_20010223_introduced.html
  8. ↑ Levine, Mark (14 May 2012). "How Far We Have Come". HuffPost.
  9. ↑ Kim, Saskia (October–November 2001). "A Primer on Civil Unions". Assembly Judiciary Committee.
  10. ↑ "It's Not Dead Yet . . ". Archived from the original on 2002-06-07.
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