Love Is In The Air

Of course, next Saturday is that made-up holiday about love and while people will still stress over getting flowers or making dinner reservations on a Saturday night, the days after Valentines' Day will also be important for love among the same-sex couples who want to marry.

In Sacramento, a major rally is being organized by Equality Action NOW for Monday, Feb. 16, which is the Presidents' Day holiday. Among some of the expected speakers include stars like Julia Louis-Dryfus, George Takei and the people behind the movie "American Beauty." Leading up to the major rally, the people behind Equality California (unrelated to Equality Action Now) is starting a Tell 3 campaign to encourage people to tell three friends they're gay, so more people can be out and proud.

It's a lot happening this month, but I hope you check out the events and show your support. The oral arguments before the state Supreme Court is next month on March 5. So let's start building the momentum today.

Learn more about the Sacramento rally on Presidents' Day at the Equality Action NOW site here.

Next Event: Freedom to Marry Day

The next major national protest also marks the anniversary of when San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom ordered city clerks to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, setting a frenzy of gay couples lining up at City Hall right before Valentine's Day.

So it's no surprise that Freedom to Marry Day is set for Feb. 12. The event is sponsored by Marriage Equality USA and Join the Impact. Same-sex couples are encouraged to go to their city halls across the nation and ask for a marriage license. If they're denied (and you'll likely be denied unless you live in Massachussetts), then you should sit down and not leave. So this is really a national sit in for marriage rights.

It'll be interesting to see what the turn out will be. For example, I'm single so I really have no reason going in asking for a marriage license. That would be fraud. And it's a work week, so wondering how many people can take time off work to sit at city hall. But hopefully enough will show up so at least there will be media coverage and more awareness built around this ongoing issue for civil rights.

To find out more about the actual local events, check out Marriage Equality USA's chapters here.

Stand Up Against DOMA

A video from Join the Impact to drum up support for the national DOMA protest set for Saturday, Jan. 10.

UPDATE: Read the comments section and Sean, one of the organizers of the local DOMA event, notes that there will be a small rally at Castro & Market and then volunteers will fan out to collect signatures for the petition to be sent to Obama. If you want to join in, meet at the Castro. Go to the group's Facebook page for more info. (Again, check the comments).