About Me
"There's no doubt that Furmansky was sort of like a superhero working to protect the rights of GLBT Marylanders.” – Baltimore City Paper (6/18/2008)
As a professional LGBT civil rights advocate for many years, I have fought heart and soul to achieve marriage equality for same-sex couples. It is this struggle for equal marriage rights that gave rise to my desire to work with couples to celebrate their weddings. My advocacy in Annapolis, in Maryland’s judiciary, and in Congress has been done arm and arm with loving couples whose commitment to one another has been incredibly inspiring, as well as with a generation of young persons who dream of living in a society where their wedding will one day be legal.
In 2006, I officiated my first wedding, for a dear friend who is like family to me. The experience was wonderful, and the joy of making a couple’s union a sacred event is unparalleled.
I am heartened that the number of states sanctioning marriage for same-gender couples continues to grow. Marrying both straight and gay couples in these pro-equality jurisdictions takes on special significance for the unions. Regardless of the laws of a state, however, I will continue my work to assure that same-sex couples have meaningful, spiritual weddings that honor their journey together. One day, the social, legal and financial benefits of marriage bestowed by all states and the federal government will be a reality. Until then, couples will continue to commit to one another in their hearts, in the eyes of their community and their higher power, and I feel blessed to be a part of these experiences.
For the past fifteen years I have worked as a lobbyist, strategist, organizer, educator, spokesperson, lecturer and writer for non-profit and progressive advocacy organizations focused on issues related to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) civil rights, the environment, animal welfare, hunger and poverty, and economic justice.
For five years, I served as Executive Director of Equality Maryland (EQMD), an advocacy organization devoted to making life better for LGBT Marylanders. During my tenure, EQMD launched a marriage equality campaign that reverberated nationally and passed laws to extend healthcare benefits to domestic partners and grant medical decision-making and real estate transfer rights to same-sex couples. My work included formation of a religious coalition for marriage equality and advocacy across the state and in national media for equal marriage rights. Prior to my time with EQMD, I worked for two years at the Human Rights Campaign, a national LGBT civil rights organization based in Washington, D.C.
I live in Boston, where I work as an independent consultant to progressive non-profit organizations, as a writer and lecturer, and of course as a wedding celebrant for couples seeking personalized, meaningful ceremonies.