Sean Eldridge

Sean Eldridge (born July 31, 1986) is a Canadian-born American political activist from New York. Eldridge is the founder and president of Stand Up America, a progressive advocacy community. He previously served as political director of Freedom to Marry, an organization advocating for the legalization of same-sex marriage. Eldridge ran for Congress in New York's 19th congressional district in 2014, but was defeated. He is the spouse of Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes. Early life and education Eldridge was born in Montreal, Quebec. He grew up in the suburbs of Toledo, Ohio, and attended public school in Ottawa Hills, a suburb of Toledo. Both of his parents are medical doctors; his father, Steve Eldridge, is a radiologist, and his mother, Sarah Taub, is a family physician. His mother was born in Petah Tikva, Israel, to Jewish refugee parents, and his father converted to Judaism. Eldridge studied at Deep Springs College in Deep Springs, California and graduated with a degree in philosophy from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, where he helped organize the national Students for Barack Obama campaign in 2007. Eldridge enrolled at Columbia Law School in New York City but withdrew to join Freedom to Marry. Career After the New York Senate voted down same-sex marriage legislation in 2009, Eldridge joined Freedom to Marry, the campaign to win marriage equality nationwide. He served initially as communications director and then as political director, a role in which he helped lead the successful 2011 effort to legalize same-sex marriage in New York.