Thomas Wheatley, currently Campaign Director at Renew Oregon, was Director of Organizing with Freedom to Marry. Wheatley was born in Montreal, Canada, and raised in San Jose, California. He earned his undergraduate degree from UC San Diego and began studying for his doctorate in sociology at University of Wisconsin Madison before leaving to do community organizing in New York. In 2005, Wheatley took a job with Basic Rights Oregon as part of their effort to build up their field organizing capacity. He moved to Freedom to Marry as Director of Organizing in 2012. In this interview, Wheatley discusses early efforts to prepare Oregon for a state freedom to marry referendum and the decision to not pursue it. He discusses focus groups, voter persuasion experiments, and public education campaigns, particularly in Washington state, Minnesota, and Hawaii.