A bride breaks a heel on her way to the altar. A tree branch snags her veil. Then a grandma type sticks her cane out and trips the bride as the groom watches in dismay.
“What if you couldn’t marry the person you love?” reads the tagline to a 60-second TV spot airing in California. “Every day, gay and lesbian couples are prevented from marrying. Support the freedom to marry.”
That’s the message of a new multimillion-dollar educational campaign called Let California Ring, created by the gay-rights advocacy organization Equality California. The ad is a key element in the effort to convince undecided Californians that same-sex couples should have the same right as straight couples to affirm their love and commitment in a legally sanctioned marriage.
The campaign is the latest volley in the divisive national fight over gay marriage.
Polls show Californians almost evenly split on the issue. A 2000 poll by the Public Policy Institute of California found that voters opposed same-sex marriage 55 percent to 38 percent; a poll by the same group last year showed a major shift: 48 percent to 46 percent.