As Alabama lawmakers -- and judges -- bend over backwards to stifle a pair of pro-equality rulings from a federal judge in the state, advocacy group Freedom to Marry has launched a new ad that asks residents to understand that all families deserve respect.
The 30-second spot, which began airing statewide Sunday, features Jessica and Chi Peoples, who were legally married in Connecticut last year but are not recognized as such in their home state of Alabama. That leaves their daughter Nailah's security hanging in the balance, they say.
"Everyone wants to believe that if you do what you're supposed to do, your family will be taken care of," says Jessica in the video. "But we don't have that safeguard."
The spot is an abbreviated version of a longer profile on the couple that Freedom to Marry produced as part of its campaign highlighting Southerners for the freedom to marry, titled "America Is Ready."
Alabama is one of 14 U.S. states that currently prohibits same-sex marriage and refuses to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions. A pair of U.S. district court rulings in favor of equality have both been appealed by the state's Republican attorney general, Luther Strange. The judge who issued those rulings placed a hold on her decision until February 9, at which point same-sex couples may be able to wed in Alabama, unless the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals grants the state's request to extend that stay.
Watch the ad airing throughout Alabama below.