February 12, 1997
National Freedom to Marry Day

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thebastion/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Thirteen years ago today, Lambda Legal, a gay rights advocacy law firm, founded National Freedom to Marry Day. The firm based out of Washington D.C. started the holiday to promote same-sex marriage.

Today the organization, now called Freedom to Marry, uses the entire week before Valentine’s Day to observe the holiday.

According to its website, “Freedom to Marry Day… is a day to celebrate and share our stories, reflect on the values of equality and love, while also engaging our neighbors in the movement for equality and fairness.”

When the state of California voted to legalize gay marriage, the first licenses given out to same-sex couples were on February 12, 2004, to commemorate this day. A few years later, the law was overturned and activists have been fighting the revocation ever since.

It hasn’t been all bad news for the cause, however. According to Freedom to Marry, there are five states that have legalized same-sex marriage, six that offer broad recognition to unions and seven that give limited recognition. In addition, the public’s approval of same-sex unions is 12 percent higher than it was in 2000.

To find out more about the organization and LGBT Rights, visit: http://www.freedomtomarry.org