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.
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]
marriage, equality, california, marriage, equality, meca, defunct, california, chapter, marriage, equality, founded, 1999, meca, grassroots, organization, fighting, secure, legal, recognition, same, marriage, through, education, outreach, california, mission, . 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 Marriage Equality CaliforniaFounded1999FounderL J Carusone Mark LevineDissolvedMerged with Equality California in 2004 1 Type501 c 3 FocusGay rightsLocationVenice California USArea servedCalifornia USMethodCampaigning Advocacy Public Speaking Contents 1 History 2 See also 3 Footnotes 4 External linksHistory editUnder 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 amp 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 edit nbsp LGBT portalLGBT rights in the United StatesFootnotes edit a b Bajko Matthew S 27 April 2006 McKay leaves EQCA Bay Area Reporter Archived from the original on 24 February 2012 Retrieved 12 April 2022 Cengage Learning www cengage com Retrieved 2019 05 31 InsideBayArea com Oakland and East Bay News Sports Jobs Cars and Real Estate nl newsbank com Retrieved 2019 05 31 Marriage Equality USA Freedom to Marry Day Marriage Counter Action Archived from the original on 27 July 2011 Retrieved 12 April 2022 MarkLevineForCongress 30 March 2014 Mark Levine is a pioneer in the Marriage Equality movement Blue Virginia Retrieved 2019 05 31 Levine Mark 26 June 2013 Vindication for the Long Fight for Marriage Equality HuffPost ftp www lhc ca gov pub 01 02 bill asm ab 1301 1350 ab 1338 bill 20010223 introduced html Levine Mark 14 May 2012 How Far We Have Come HuffPost Kim Saskia October November 2001 A Primer on Civil Unions Assembly Judiciary Committee It s Not Dead Yet Archived from the original on 2002 06 07 External links editStatewide Website C A National Website U S Marriage Equality USA National Media Center Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Marriage Equality California amp oldid 1190897776, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
