Straight Marylanders to Shower Annapolis With Flowers to Support Their Gay Friends' Freedom to Marry
Friendfactor to send carnations to Maryland Senators on behalf of each Marylander who calls their legislator in support of SB 116
ANNAPOLIS, Md. /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On February 10th, Friendfactor — a web-savvy gay* rights advocacy organization — announced that it will give Marylanders a chance to dedicate a flower on behalf of their gay friends and in support of SB 116. Friendfactor will send hundreds of flowers to Maryland State Senators to represent voters who called their legislators to express their support for their gay friends' freedom to marry within the state. The first delivery will take place on Valentine's Day, in partnership with the efforts of Equality Maryland, the state's largest Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) civil rights group.
The flower deliveries, which will continue through the life of the bill, are part of Friendfactor's "Pop the Question" campaign, which empowers gay Marylanders to ask their straight friends to advocate on their behalf. By visiting the website,www.MarylandPop.org, straight friends have the ability to show their support and call Maryland legislators to voice their support for SB 116, the "Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act," which is currently under consideration in the state senate. The campaign employs innovative click-to-call online technology, making it quick and simple for supporters to take this meaningful grassroots action from the comfort of their computers. Each time a Maryland resident uses the tool to call their state senator in support of the SB 116, Friendfactor will add another flower to that senator's bouquet.
"So many Marylanders have close friends and family members who don't get to enjoy the same freedoms as their straight friends and relatives just because they are gay. We decided to deliver flowers to state senators to recognize all those who went towww.MarylandPop.org and took action to show that they care about their friends," said Friendfactor Founder Brian Elliot.
"It is so inspiring to be supported by so many of my friends who are making calls after I asked them to help me on Facebook," said Aaron Shapiro, a University of Maryland student who started a Facebook event to ask for support and was able to rally hundreds of friends. "I really want to get married some day, and so do so many other gay Marylanders."
This past November, Friendfactor launched the website Friendfactor.org, a social networking platform created to encourage straight friends to become public supporters for their gay friends, and educate them about the inequalities of gay individuals in America. A key tool on the site is the Freedom Index, which quantifies and maps out the rights of gay citizens compared to their straight friends in each state. According to the index, gay Marylanders have only 68% of the personal freedoms of straight Marylanders.
To learn more about the "Pop the Question" campaign visit www.MarylandPop.org.
About Friendfactor: Through public education and advocacy tools, Friendfactor cultivates new "champions of freedom," people who, when asked to support their gay* and transgender friends, will do so. Friendfactor is a joint project of Friendfactor Accelerator and Friendfactor Foundation.
*The organization sometimes uses the term 'gay' when referring to LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender) individuals to be accessible to as many Americans as possible.
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