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More than 70 Major American City Mayors Endorse Full Marriage Equality in Open Letter
As mayors of five of America’s great cities, we understand that the strength and health of our cities are enhanced when all families are protected and supported. We know many people in loving and committed same-sex relationships who are active participants in improving our communities and we’ve seen how important marriage has been for them and their families.
We are honored to lead this bipartisan group of mayors who support ending marriage discrimination at all levels of government. While we will each have different strategies for pursuing that end, we all agree on the goal: securing the freedom to marry and upholding equal rights for all citizens.
We are a diverse group of mayors—from small cities in Indiana and Maine, to the four largest cities in America. Our cities are culturally, racially and geographically diverse, but we share one important value: a common commitment to fairness.
We invite our colleagues to join us in signing this statement as we advocate for the freedom to marry and build a nation where all loving couples who want to make the life-long commitment can share in the joy and respect of marriage.
Sincerely,
| Michael Bloomberg | Thomas M. Menino | Annise Parker | Jerry Sanders | Antonio Villaraigosa |
| Mayor of New York City | Mayor of Boston | Mayor of Houston | Mayor of San Diego | Mayor of Los Angeles |
BAM!
The mayors or New York, Boston, Houston, San Diego and Los Angeles are joined by over 70 other American mayors representing cities like Seattle, Washington D.C., Austin, Philadelphia, Chicago and Portland.
The majority of Americans now favor full federal marriage equality, and our nation’s biggest cities have gone on the record in support of LGBT marriage equality. I wouldn’t quite say it’s safe to hold your breath on this issue just yet, but we’re traveling at warp speed now.
A full list of the mayors who have signed the endorsement:
| Michael Bloomberg – New York, NY (Chair) | Thomas Menino – Boston, MA (Chair) |
| Annise Parker – Houston, Texas (Chair) | Jerry Sanders – San Diego, CA (Chair) |
| Antonio Villaraigosa – Los Angeles, CA (Chair) | Samuel Adams – Portland, OR |
| Tom Bates – Berkeley, CA | William Bell – Durham, NC |
| David Berger – Lima, OH | Richard Bloom – Santa Monica, CA |
| Cory Booker – Newark, NJ | Bruce Botelho – Juneau, AK |
| Ardell Brede – Rochester, MN | Christopher Cabaldon – W. Sacramento, CA |
| John Callahan – Bethlehem, PA | Stephen Cassidy – San Leandro, CA |
| Craig Cates – Key West, FL | Mark Chilton – Carrboro, NC |
| Joshua Cohen – Annapolis, MD | Chris Coleman – St. Paul, MN |
| Dennis Coombs – Longmont, CO | Joy Cooper – Hallandale Beach, FL |
| Frank Cownie – Des Moines, IA | John Duran – West Hollywood, CA |
| Paul Dyster – Niagara Falls, NY | Rahm Emanuel – Chicago, IL |
| Bill Finch – Bridgeport, CT | Peter Fosselman – Kensington, MD |
| Bob Foster – Long Beach, CA | Laura Friedman – Glendale, CA |
| Ava Frisinger – Issaquah, WA | Marie Gilmore – Alameda, CA |
| Mike Gin, Redondo Beach, CA | Vincent Gray – Washington, D.C. |
| George Heartwell – Grand Rapids, MI | John Hieftje – Ann Arbor, MI |
| Bobby Hopewell – Kalamazoo, MI | Sylvester James, Jr. – Kansas City, MO |
| Edward Kelly – Cleveland Heights, OH | Mark Kleinschmidt – Chapel Hill, NC |
| Mark Kruzan – Bloomington, IN | Don Lane – Santa Cruz, CA |
| Timothy Leavitt – Vancouver, WA | Edwin Lee – San Francisco, CA |
| Lee Leffingwell – Austin, TX | Craig Lowe – Gainesville, FL |
| David Lublin – Town of Chevy Chase, MD | Karen Majewski – Hamtramck, MI |
| Jan Marx – San Luis Obispo, CA | Mike McGinn – Seattle, WA |
| Alex Morse – Holyoke, MA | Lori Moseley – Miramar, FL |
| Jeri Muoio – West Palm Beach, FL | David Narkewicz – Northampton, MA |
| Don Ness – Duluth, MN | Michael Nutter – Philadelphia, PA |
| Frank Ortis – Pembroke Pines, FL | Kitty Piercy – Eugene, OR |
| Steve Pougnet – Palm Springs, CA | Jean Quan – Oakland, CA |
| Thomas Richards – Rochester, NY | Clarissa Rowe – Arlington, MA |
| Matthew Ryan – Binghampton, NY | RT Rybak – Minneapolis, MN |
| Robert Sabonjian – Waukegan, IL | Helene Schneider – Santa Barbara, CA |
| Ann Schwab – Chico, CA | Pedro Segarra – Hartford, CT |
| Eric Senter – Franklinton, NC | Jeffrey Slavin – Town of Somerset, MD |
| Francis G. Slay – St. Louis, MO | Paul Soglin – Madison, WI |
| Marilyn Strickland – Tacoma, WA | Angel Taveras – Providence, RI |
| Nick Tell – Manhattan Beach, CA | Elizabeth Tisdahl – Evanston, IL |
| Seth Warren – Newton, MA | Bruce Williams – Takoma Park, MD |
| Dana Williams – Park City Park, UT |
If you don’t see your mayor listed here, please take a moment to send this letter asking for her or him to please sign.
(via Freedom to Marry)
