GLAAD, Freedom to Marry, and the Movement Advancement Project (MAP) today released a new resource that helps LGBT allies speak out in support of marriage equality.

The ‘Ally’s guide to talking about marriage for same-sex couples’ is the latest tool in GLAAD and MAP’s ‘Talking About’ series, a collection of resources for discussing issues central to LGBT equality.

The guide looks at three key approaches for sustaining and building support for marriage:

• The importance of grounding conversations in the core values that embody marriage for all committed couples: love, commitment, responsibility, and the lifelong promise that two people make to take care of one another, in good times and bad.
• The need to help people understand on an emotional level how same-sex couples are hurt when they are shut out of marriage.
• The need to remind people of how our shared beliefs—particularly the Golden Rule, freedom, and not sitting in judgment of others—are at the heart of people’s journeys toward supporting marriage.

“At the heart of fairness is simple conversation—the stories of our friends, family and colleagues—that changes hearts and minds by reminding Americans of the common humanity that we share,” said Mike Thompson, Acting President of GLAAD. “This guide is a critical tool to grow awareness of the importance of marriage for all committed couples.”

Today, support for marriage equality is higher than ever before, with a majority of Americans agreeing that every person should be able to marry the person they love.

• A May 2011 Gallup poll showed 53% of respondents believed that marriages between lesbian and gay couples should be “recognized by the law as valid.”
• A May 2011 Public Religion Research Institute survey found that 51% support legal marriage for lesbian and gay couples.
• An April 2011 CNN and the Opinion Research Corporation poll showed 51% of respondents were in favor of legal recognition for marriages for gay and lesbian couples.
• A March 2011 ABC News and the Washington Post poll found that 51% of respondents said they thought marriage equality should be legal, a 17 percentage-point increase from the 2006 polling results.

For other tools to help you speak out in support of LGBT equality, visit glaad.org/talkingabout.