How We Began... Same Love, Same Rights (TM) is a division of RainbowWeddingNetwork.com, and was created in 2004 in response to the first Federal Marriage Amendment Act. This was a bill proposed in the United States Senate to enact a Constitutional Amendment that would define marriage as between one man and one woman.
In 2000, RainbowWeddingNetwork.com was launched by founders and life partners Cindy Sproul & Marianne Puechl as the first wedding gift registry ever specifically dedicated to the Gay and Lesbian community. The site, which then also included a Directory of LGBTQ+ friendly wedding professionals and LGBTQ+ specific ceremony tips, quickly grew to become the most extensive online LGBTQ+ wedding resource, receiving over 1,000,000 hits its first six months of existence. In 2003, the company began producing many of the nation's first Gay and Lesbian Wedding Expos - and as the issues surrounding LGBTQ+ Marriage Rights and Equal Rights for LGBTQ+ Families became more heated throughout the country, the team of RainbowWeddingNetwork (RWN) decided to bring a stronger sense of Activism to the Expos and to the company's work generally on behalf of LGBTQ+ weddings. With the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment Act in 2004, the founders of RWN moved forward with the Same Love, Same Rights (TM) campaign in full force.
In the 25 years since the launch of RainbowWeddingNetwork.com, there have been great strides toward equal rights in marriage for the LGBTQ+ minority in America; however recent years also mark the passage of significant anti-gay legislation in many states, and of course ongoing heated dialogue about the validity of marriage as a legitimate civil rights issue. More than that, the LGBTQ+ community continues to be a minority targeted rigorously by conservative groups that aim to disallow gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans the rights and responsibilities of marriage, the joy of adoption and family rights and other protections inherent to other citizens under the law. And with the events of the US Supreme Court in late June 2022 and June 2023, it certainly appears that in the near future Obergefell v. Hodges may be overturned... and that there may then follow a federal mandate disallowing states from providing LGBTQ+ marriage rights. And it seems likely that other rights such as healthcare, family and adoption protections will continue to be at risk also, from state to state and even at the federal level. A conservative court is dangerous for our minority, and all others.
This means that the resources of RainbowWeddingNetwork.com and its sister campaign “Same Love, Same Rights” (TM) continue to be vital. By choosing to invest its annual purchasing power of over $600 billion with companies that are screened and actively stand up for Equality, the LGBTQ+ minority can affect a strong economic impact in states all across the country. With an advertiser base of well over 5000 businesses, RainbowWeddingNetwork.com provides immediate access to such companies for LGBTQ+ couples, our advocates and allies. By supporting one another actively and with focus, as a community of citizens and allies, we can take active strides to ensure that lasting Equality for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans becomes that much more attainable.
Furthermore, by providing a degree of legitimization for LGBTQ+ couples and families through social networking, social media connections, grassroots organizing and by producing hundreds of LGBTQ+ Wedding Expos in states all across the nation, RainbowWeddingNetwork provides the means for a public presence concerning the issues of same-gender marriage and family rights. This is key to the infrastructure of support for LGBTQ+ couples, as well as for the businesses and allies that stand up for non-discrimination. It also serves to bring a strong sense of public recognition to the realities of same-gender relationships and the realities of life in America for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender citizens. This ‘softer’ side of the work of RainbowWeddingNetwork.com is no less valid and of no less import with regard to the ultimate enactment of lasting Equal Rights for the LGBTQ+ minority in America, and therefore remains a vital facet of the company’s ongoing mission.
Today, the tenets of the activism campaign have been merged with the resources of www.RainbowWeddingNetwork.com: THANK YOU for visiting our main website and learning more about all we have to offer.