Marc Solomon joined Freedom to Marry after serving as executive director of MassEquality. Solomon led the campaign to defeat two constitutional amendments in the first freedom to marry state in the nation, beating back attacks by the Catholic Church, President George W. Bush, Gov. Mitt Romney, and the right-wing anti-gay industry. Following the victory in Massachusetts, Solomon consulted with state-wide equality organizations in Connecticut and Vermont as well as Freedom to Marry, as part of the nationwide effort to end marriage discrimination.
Most recently, Marc served as marriage director of Equality California, Solomon led the largest state effort in movement history to make the case for marriage equality through face-to-face conversations. In that campaign, EQCA field organizers and coalition partners organized hundreds of thousands of conversations at people’s doors, moved 26 percent of opponents with whom they spoke to be significantly more supportive, and helped grow public support for the freedom to marry in California from 44 percent to 50 percent. Under Solomon’s leadership, EQCA placed special focus on building support in communities of color.
Solomon has extensive background in advocacy, public policy, and media, having served as a Senate policy adviser in Washington, D.C. and researcher for Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward. In May 2009, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick presented Marc with the Massachusetts Democratic Party’s prestigious Franklin Delano Roosevelt Award, given each year to someone who espouses FDR’s ideals “with respect to democracy, justice, individual freedoms, and citizenship.”
Solomon graduated Magna Cum Laude with Honors in Political Science and Economics from Yale University and holds a Master’s in Public Administration from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. In 1999, the Rockefeller Foundation named Solomon as one of 24 of America’s next generation leaders and invited him to participate in its prestigious two-year Next Generation Leadership fellowship program.
Email Marc Solomon at marc [at] freedomtomarry.org.
