Learn about a vision for an interfaith march for marriage equality that will begin in Vancouver and end 100 miles North in Olympia. Along the way, people will join us to walk shorter distances and to signal their support for our cause. Here is a statement explaining our motives and our goals:
For many faiths, marriage is a sacred institution around which a community gathers to affirm, bless, and celebrate the love of a couple faithfully committed to each other. To deny the right of marriage to couples of the same-sex is to act against the values of love, equality, and religious freedom. The Love for All March for Marriage Equality serves as a means by which members of faith communities can publicly declare (1) that they affirm, bless, and celebrate marriage for couples regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation and (2) that they call upon the state of Washington to make into law the right of marriage for same-sex couples.
This march is an opportunity to participate in an historic moment of both public witness and deep personal meaning for those involved. More than 45 years ago, members of different faiths united together to march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama for the civil rights of African Americans. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel described his participation as an act of “praying with his legs.” In this same tradition of advancing equality for all, we will be undertaking this march.
The march will take place in February of 2012 in order to coincide with the 2012 legislative session for the state of Washington. It will begin in Vancouver, Washington and end on the front steps of the state Capitol in Olympia, Washington. A core group of walkers will walk the entire 100 miles, while other walkers will join the march for shorter distances along the way. Over the course of the march, participants will stop in local communities along the I-5 corridor. In these communities, they will hold town halls and worship services to engage the public in dialogue and reflection on marriage equality. Local media as well as media from larger metropolitan areas such as Portland, Seattle, and Tacoma will be sought to cover the march. Marchers will depend upon the hospitality of supporters in these communities for lodging.
Communities outside of metropolitan areas are often viewed as being monolithically against marriage equality. This march will seek to demonstrate that supporters of marriage equality can be found in more rural areas and that other members of these communities are open to civil and respectful dialogue on the issue. One of the goals of the march is to embody the ethic of love, equality, and freedom that we seek to promote.
