Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed called on state officials to pursue legislation recognizing same-sex marriages performed outside the state, a key first step in what he described as a long road to marriage equality in Georgia.
Speaking at the kickoff of Southerners for the Freedom to Marry, a $1 million campaign promoting marriage equality across 14 Southern states, Reed also called for the end to Georgia’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
“I’m prepared to wear as many hats as it takes to end marriage discrimination at all levels of government and particularly in Georgia,” Reed said to a packed room Monday. “… No gay person should be prevented from marrying the person they love and protecting their family in the state they call home.”
Reed spoke alongside Evan Wolfson, the founder of the advocacy organization Freedom to Marry, and a host of local advocates including Georgia Equality head Jeff Graham and the Rev. Don Saliers, a theology professor at Emory University.
Wolfson said the organization is armed with $1 million to promote same-sex marriage across the region with events, social media efforts, canvassing and potential advertisements on radio or television.
“For too long, the conversation has come from other parts of the country that have moved forward faster,” Wolfson said. “There is great determination on the part of many other people, including nongay people here, who understand now is the time for the South to speak up and for voices to be heard.”
Among them is Decatur couple Linda Ellis and the Rev. Lesley Brogan, who spoke at the event with their two sons, John and Sam. Ellis and Brogan, who held a commitment ceremony in 1991, called for Georgia to recognize their relationship as equal to heterosexual couples.
“If you ask (our sons), they would tell you we are just like any other old married couple,” Ellis said. “They would tell you that, but the reality is it’s not true, not yet. And we’re ready for it to be.”
U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Atlanta, speaking in a video broadcast during the event, said he sees the right to marry as a civil rights issue.
“You can’t have rights for one section of the population … and not for everybody,” said Lewis, a longtime proponent of same-sex marriage. Lewis said achieving equal rights for gay couples is in line with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision.
Reed announced his support of same-sex marriage in late 2012, about seven months after President Barack Obama did the same. The mayor previously advocated for civil unions but said Monday that he was wrong.
“I was slow moving from recognizing civil unions to marriage equality,” Reed said. “My grandfather was a minister and I grew up in a household that was pretty religious, and I consider myself pretty religious and I had some struggles.”
The mayor recognized an uphill climb on the issue in Georgia, a largely conservative state. The Legislature is currently considering a pair of bills their supporters say would protect religious freedoms but others say would shield people who oppose gay marriage from being sued for refusing service to gay couples.
“The fact of the matter is, conservatives are ruling the day,” Reed said, “but think of where we’ve come in 10 years.
“I think the folks on the other side of those votes are on the wrong side of history.”
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