Mayors Sam Adams of Portland, Jerry
Sanders of San Diego and Annise Parker of Houston urge Americans to
support gay marriage in a new video released on Wednesday.
Mayors for the Freedom to Marry
announced that the number of mayors joining the group had more than
doubled since its January 20 debut, from 80 to 175.
The mayors have pledged to support
efforts to legalize gay nuptials in their home states.
Featured in the 60-second video are
chairs Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles, Mayor Jerry Sanders
of San Diego, and Mayor Annise Parker of Houston, in addition to
co-chairs including Mayor Marilyn Strickland of Tacoma, WA; Mayor
Pedro Segarra of Hartford, CT; Mayor Sam Adams of Portland, OR; Mayor
Setti Warren of Newtown, MA; Mayor Jeffrey Slavin of Somerset, MD;
Mayor Ed Lee of San Francisco, CA; Mayor Laura Friedman of Glendale,
CA; Mayor Stephen Cassidy of San Leandro, CA; Mayor John Callahan of
Bethlehem, PA; and Mayor Craig Cates of Key West, FL.
In 2007, Sanders, one of the few
Republicans in the group, held an emotional press conference in which
he tearfully reversed his opposition to marriage equality, telling
reporters, “I have close family members and friends who are members
of the gay and lesbian community. Those folks include my daughter
Lisa.”
“Equality and marriage is something I
think touches every family,” Sanders said in the video. (The video
is embedded in the right panel of this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
(Related: Annise
Parker nudges Obama on gay marriage; Mayor called on to resign.)