Marriage Equality Resources to Read & Watch

If you are seeking educational entertainment, please avail yourself of these resources and also check out our Marriage Equality In the ARTS section. If you are writing a paper or preparing for a presentation or debate, please be sure to read our Get the Facts section (scroll over Get the Facts to see the full drop-down menu of topics).

Capturing Love: The Art of of Lesbian and Gay Wedding Photography
Same-sex couples are one small part of a large, vibrant market and need many of the same services as heterosexual couples. But all wedding templates are not created equal for these couples. This is especially true for wedding photographers and the poses they have been trained to use when conducting engagement shoots and photographing weddings. Enter veteran wedding photographer, Thea Dodds of Authentic Eye Photography, and same-sex wedding pioneer, Kathryn Hamm of GayWeddings.com, who have teamed up to create this groundbreaking book and visual guide, which features thirty-eight of the top gay and lesbian wedding photographers, and provides needed support to wedding photographers who must revisit the rules of traditional wedding and engagement portrait posing and develop an expanded skill set to better serve all couples in today’s dynamic wedding market.

Married But Not Equal (Full Episode)
From In the Life Media: There are 1,138 benefits, rights and protections that married heterosexual couples get from the Federal Government. But because of the Defense of Marriage Act, gays and lesbians are denied every single one of them—even if they are legally married in the state they live.

LGBT Families of Color: Facts at a Glance
This PDF was published in January 2012 by the National Black Justice Coalition and is a "must-read". "This fact sheet explicitly examines LGBT families of color, though many of the findings apply more broadly to any family of color—or even any family—where children are not being raised by two married, biological parents. LGBT families of color—like all families—simply want an equal opportunity to provide stable, loving homes to their children, to ensure economic stability, and to raise healthy children who become integral parts of their communities. Yet for LGBT families of color, the intersection of laws, stigma, and race-based discrimination collide in ways that create significant challenges."

My Uncle's Wedding
Written by Eric Ross and illustrated by Tracy K. Greene, My Uncle's Wedding is a children's book that  shows "there is absolutly no difference between a wedding for a same-sex couple and a wedding for a heterosexual couple. The focus is on the nephew and all he is going through in helping them plan the wedding and in being a part of the wedding."

Love Warriors: The Rise of the Marriage Equality Movement and Why It Will Prevail
Love Warriors by Davina Kotulski, is a comprehensive reader on the same-sex marriage movement, outlining the rights, benefits and protections marriage provides and the real-life harm caused by marriage discrimination. Kotulski affirms that advancing equality for LGBT people is part of the American legacy of expanding human rights and upholding cherished values. Love Warriors is perfect for veteran supporters and those still on the fence.  

What's Marriage Got To Do With It?    
Everything!
This short video clip and Huffington Post dispatch from the OUT IN THE SILENCE Campaign make a strong case that marriage equality is important for everybody, not just those who wish to wed.
Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson are the Emmy award winning directors of the Out in the Silence Campaign.
Read the Huffington Post story.

Freedom to Marry
This uplifting and poignant documentary, highlighting a momentous, historical milestone when San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom engaged in ground-breaking civil disobedience as he allowed same-sex couples to marry at San Francisco City Hall. Click here to view the trailer!

Tying The Knot
When a bank robber's bullet ends the life of police officer Lois Marrero, her wife of thirteen years, Mickie, is honored as her surviving spouse but denied all pension benefits. When Sam, an Oklahoma rancher, loses his beloved husband of 22 years, long-estranged cousins of his late spouse try to lay claim to everything Sam has. As Mickie and Sam's lives are put on trial, they are forced to confront the tragic reality that in the eyes of the law their marriages mean nothing. From an historical trip to the Middle Ages, to gay hippies storming the Manhattan marriage bureau in 1971, Tying the Knot digs deeply into the past and present to uncover the meaning of civil marriage in America today. Click here to view the trailer!

Why You Should Give a Damn About Gay Marriage - The Book
For a clear, concise, and accurate perspective on an issue that is dominating the airwaves today, look no further than Why You Should Give a Damn About Gay Marriage, by former MEUSA Executive Director Davina Kotulski, published by Advocate Books.

The Gay Marriage Thing
A documentary by Stephanie Higgins. Now available on DVD, THE GAY MARRIAGE THING presents the politics, the piety, and the people embroiled in and affected by the debate over same-sex marriage. Amidst the chaos of legislators, church leaders, and protesters, one couple's quiet story puts a human face on the social struggle of our time. Click here to view the trailer!

Pursuit of Equality
PURSUIT OF EQUALITY is an emotionally charged film that puts a face on American citizens who strive for equality and confront the struggles associated with their homosexuality and their desire for their marriages to be accepted by the rest of the nation. Click here to view the trailer! 

Saving Marriage: The Movie
Saving Marriage is a documentary film that follows the political and personal drama that unfolded in Massachusetts as the LGBTIQ community fought to hold on to the marriage rights it won in a landmark court case.

Permission
In 2004, MTV invited Public Interest to create 6 spots for its "Choose or Lose: Marriage Rights Campaign." In an environment saturated with conservative rhetoric about how same sex marriage threatens "the sanctity of marriage," we felt the need to counter this perspective with a healthy dose of humor, while helping young people to see the importance of going to the polls in November. Permission poignantly illustrates the absurdity of the double standard when it comes to marriage, in a way that makes the issue relevant to non-gay audiences.

QUEENS: Here come the grooms... And their mothers!
As Spain prepares for its first-ever mass gay wedding, so must five mothers. Over the course of one weekend, these uncompromising women must learn to cope with a variety of family conflicts surrounding the marriages of each of their sons. While these very different mothers learn to deal with their own desires and prejudices, a clash of sex, bigotry and love ensues. Amongst the hilarious chaos, all five women must find the strength and love they need in order to give their sons away.

Courting Equality - The Book
On June 14, 2007, the Massachusetts legislature once again voted to support LGBT equality, refusing to send to the ballot a constitutional amendment that would have banned same-sex marriage. Courting Equality was the first book to tell the extraordinary story of this civil rights victory. With nearly 10,000 married same-sex couples, Massachusetts has successfully broken through the boundaries of an age-old institution.