By Bill Gemmill - Sept. 16, 2014

As part of National Hispanic Heritage Month, local Latino leaders spoke out in support of marriage equality at an event organized by Why Marriage Matters Arizona, a coalition founded last year ago by the ACLU of Arizona, Equality Arizona, Freedom to Marry, and the Human Rights Campaign, today.

"Marriage matters for the same reasons to all people, gay or straight," said Dolores Huerta, a civil rights activist, longtime labor leader and activist who co-founded the National Farm Workers Association with Cesar Chavez.

Alessandra Soler, ACLU executive director, and Eva Montelongo.

Eva Montelongo, mother of a gay son, encouraged Latino parents to have conversations with their LGBT kids. State Senator Steve Gallardo recounted his coming out experience and the called to light the fact that Latino LGBT youth in our state are still scared to come out to their families.

Huerta appeared alongside representatives from Friendly House, and Valle del Sol, both major non-profit organizations that serve the Phoenix Latino community.

At the start of Hispanic Heritage Month, the community leaders today said that they were united in their belief that no member of anyone's family, whether gay or straight, should face discrimination when they hope to marry the person they love.

Hispanic Heritage Month runs from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.

Civil rights activist Dolores Huerta was among those spoke out in support of marriage equality.