New CD Marry Me Supports the ACLU's Efforts to Win Marriage for Same-Sex Couples

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: media@aclu.org

NEW YORK – Marry Me, a new album from Figjam Records, brings together a diverse group of musicians to celebrate love and support the American Civil Liberties Union’s efforts to secure the rights of same-sex couples to marry.

The songs on Marry Me represent an array of musical genres, such as RuPaul’s dance floor anthem “Love Is Love,” Marcella Detroit’s gospel-like “I Wish You Love,” the serenade “You and I” by Yolanda, the folksy “Jill and Jill” by Jenn Lindsay, the cover of Motown classic “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Sade Pendarvis and Nicolas Ferrer, and the R&B track “Bashert” by Ari Gold. This is music for anyone celebrating the union of love between two people.

The cross-section of artists involved is just as diverse, showing that this is not a gay versus straight issue. As Daniel Cartier, one of the artists on the CD, put it, Marry Me is “an attempt to bring the focus back to what this issue is really all about. That all of us, gay and straight, have this intrinsic desire to meet someone who’ll understand us, make us swoon, and we can imagine growing old with.”

The ACLU’s Lesbian & Gay Rights and AIDS Projects will receive 50 percent of proceeds from the wholesale price of the Marry Me compilation. The Projects’ goal is equal treatment for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, and people with HIV/AIDS. The Projects hold a key role in the current movement for marriage, with ongoing cases in New York, Oregon, Maryland, and California.

Last spring, performer and drag legend Hedda Lettuce approached Figjam’s Jack Chen about the struggle for the marriage. Hedda and other artists wanted to use music to explain to the world why marriage for same-sex couples was a matter of fairness and asked Chen what they could do to make a difference. Chen and Figjam answered the challenge by putting together Marry Me, a double-CD compilation containing songs by more than 20 gay, lesbian, straight, and transgendered artists. The first disk, “Ceremony,” celebrates tenderness and commitment; the second, “Reception,” aims to set a great mood for a joyous party.

Marry Me will be officially launched at a release party on Tuesday, November 16 at XL, 357 W. 16th Street in New York. Admission is free. ACLU Lesbian & Gay Rights and AIDS Project Litigation Director James Esseks will speak at the party, which kicks off at 10:00 p.m. The event is being hosted by Cashetta and will feature some of the artists on on the CD: Bill Budd, Daniel Cartier, Ari Gold, Daniel Harnett, Hedda Lettuce, Jenn Lindsay, Grace Millo, Robin Renee, Sarah Symons, Heather Leigh West, and Yolanda.

More information on Marry Me can be found at http://www.figjamrecords.com/marryme.asp, and more information on the ACLU’s work on marriage for same-sex couples can be found at /getequal/.