National Marriage Boycott: Marriage Is Not a Right Until All Can Marry - Help Us Make This Happen

Contributing post by Kenzie Seal, CFO for the National Marriage Boycott.

In the wake of the passage of Proposition 8 in California last November, myself and a number of other Stanford activists founded the National Marriage Boycott (NMB)—and are saying no to marriage altogether.

The premise is simple: until everyone in the United States who wants to get married can get married, marriage is not a right—it is a privilege founded in discrimination. And we want nothing to do with it.

By signing NMB’s online pledge, members vow not to marry until the Defense of Marriage Act—which prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex unions as marriages and denies same-sex couples more than 1,000 federal rights—is repealed. By also wearing an Equality Ring on their left ring finger, boycotters have the opportunity to visibly demonstrate their support for the LGBTQ community, while also engaging in the conversations which will change the hearts and minds of our opponents in this civil rights battle.

NMB is a student-driven social movement focused on both raising awareness about and support for LGBTQ rights, while also putting pressure on lawmakers by highlighting the widespread support for equality amongst the people of the United States. Since its founding at Stanford University, NMB has spread to more than 20 different schools in more than 10 different states—and our goal for the year is to expand our presence to schools in all 50 states as quickly as possible. But don't get me wrong, this movement is not focused exclusively on students; NMB is inclusive, and we encourage people of all ages from all backgrounds—LGBTQ and allied, married and unmarried—to join the fight and take a stand.

And to win this fight, we need your help! NMB is in the final days of a month-long entrepreneurship competition for $10,000 in seed funding from ideablob.com—and to win, WE NEED YOU TO VOTE.

As I write this, with only 26 hours left, we are just one vote from first place. Please, please, be that vote.

The thirty seconds it takes you to register and cast your vote could make all the difference—and will, without a doubt, affect how quickly we can take the fight for full LGBTQ rights to the national level.

Let’s make it sooner, rather than later.

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To find out more about the National Marriage Boycott go to www.nationalmarriageboycott.com. Click here to sign the pledge and here to get your Equality Ring.