Mainers See Through the Opposition's Lies and Stand Up for Marriage Equality

Periodic guest blogger for Unite the Fight, straight ally Jane Wishon does a great job of summarizing the underhanded tactics used by the anti-marriage equality Yes on 1 campaign in Maine and describes how "real Mainers" who see through the lies are being used for the NO on 1 ads.

Writing for JaySays.com, Jane reports:

Watch the current Yes on 1 ads in Maine and you’ll see some familiar faces. Yes, right there on your TV screen you’ll see Robb and Robin Wirthlin bemoaning the fact that their child’s teacher read the book King & King to the class. Why do they look familiar? It’s exactly the same footage used in the Yes on 8 campaign spots from California last year.

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“In each, according to our opposition, a young child is hurt or damaged when exposed to a book that depicts a gay couple as happy and healthy. This message – ‘your kids are in danger’ — is a lie designed to frighten and polarize voters, including but not limited to young parents of young children. This misinformation is what our opposition relied on as far back as Anita Bryant’s 1977 ‘Save the Children’ campaign, and they’re using it again in Maine this year,” according to David Fleischer, media analyst and Lead Organizer of the LGBT Mentoring Project in New York.

In Maine, you’ll also see a school teacher promising that homosexuality will be taught in public school and a law professor promising “a flood of lawsuits.” Meanwhile there is a casting call for a ‘Yes on 1’ commercial looking for a “working waitress type” and a “teacher type,” according to a recent article in the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram. Sound familiar?

What may not sound familiar is the reaction these tactics are garnering in Maine. In his October 2nd Real Mainers step up for ‘No on 1’ ads, Bill Nemitz calls out the opposition for its subterfuge. He begins with pointing out that the handsome traditional family featured on the Stand for Marriage Maine website is actually clip art and calmly and systematically picks apart the spokespeople for the Yes on 1 campaign as not what they purport to be.

Read more of Jane's post to find out why the supposed law professor and public school teacher in the ads are anything but.

Though I have offered friendly criticisms to the NO on 1/Protect Maine Equality ads in the past, believing they can be more hard-hitting by truthfully calling out the lies in the opposition's ads before they even air (because, c'mon, we've seen these ads before!), Jane shows how real Mainers are already seeing through the lies of the Yes on 1 campaign.

The NO on 1/Protect Maine Equality campaign needs your help now more than ever. With less than a month to go before elections and Mainers already turning in early voting ballots, time is of the essence.

Volunteer and donate!

Restore Equality 2010 - There Is No Wrong Time to Fight for What's Right

Guest Post: Jane Wishon is a straight mother-of-three who has been married 33 years. She actively campaigned against Prop 8 and has started a cause for straight allies on Facebook. Jane, now a member of Restore Equality 2010's IAG, also volunteers for AIDS Project LA, and twitters @janewishon

Lightning in a bottle. Electric. Grassroots. Groundswell.

Notice how the best terms to describe the outpouring of energy since the passage of Prop 8 last fall are tied to nature – beautiful, chaotic, unstoppable nature? The fight for marriage equality in California has taken on all the beauty and awesomeness of a natural phenomenon, and the very last thing we should do is try to contain and control it. But channel it? Yes! Then we should take that energy, step back and watch the movement go!

First, the California LGBT grassroots gathered to create a checklist of “next steps” with Steve Hildebrand (Obama Campaign strategist) showing them the way to start.

Then, activists came together to choose an Interim Administrative Group, form a ballot committee and select a grassroots organizational plan with Ace Smith (Hilary Clinton Campaign strategist) cheering them on.

And this past week grassroots activists gathered in town halls all over the state to elect representation to a statewide advisory panel and lay the groundwork for selecting an Executive Committee for the campaign. And there’s more to come until each and every inch of California is represented.

Like a tidal wave, new activism with new energy is rolling over the state, making no apologies for disregarding the “expert advice” of more established institutions. At San Diego’s Town Hall, lesbian activist and academic Pat Washington urged these activists on, saying “You have a truly -- I mean absolutely unequivocal -- grassroots movement. So what if the powers that be don't like it? What if they don't like your timing? What if they don't like your message? ... There is no wrong time to fight for what's right.”

So how does a political campaign create momentum from this wonderful, chaotic energy? After all, the energy has to have a focus and discipline to be effective. Fortunately, John Patterson, board member of RENWL in South LA and co-author of the plan, has co-authored an organizational plan for California that is both structured, yet flexible enough to maximize local input and statewide communications. Simply, this plan calls for community based “hubs” of activity (everything from signature gathering to fundraising) formed within existing communities, gay and straight. These hubs are within 10 regions across the state. The regions are represented by democratically elected Regional Representatives as well specially elected Affinity Representatives. These Affinity Representatives are chosen to insure that all cultures, religions, labor, etc. are present “at the table” in decision-making.

These Regional Representatives and Affinity Representatives will join with representatives of the major Equality Organizations in California to form a Statewide Advisory Panel for the campaign. Yes, that’s right -- the traditional LGBT rights organizations will join with the democratically elected activists to create the Panel.

Once the Panel is seated in November, it will select the Executive Committee for the campaign. At that point, the Interim Administrative Group (IAG) will sunset and hand off the campaign to leadership selected by the people whose rights are at stake.

This past weekend saw the election of Regional Representatives from San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, Hollister, Santa Cruz, and the Inland Empire. More regions will be meeting in coming weeks. Meanwhile, hubs are forming and Affinity Representatives will be elected soon. Check http://www.restoreequality2010.com for updated information.

Asked why she agreed to serve as a Cat Wrangler for the movement, noted San Franciscan activist Jo Hoenninger commented "I'm doing this for all of the people who didn't get a chance to be one of the 18,000 same-sex couples who got to get married last year."

The political graveyard is full of candidates and campaigns who were told to wait. For those like Mario Cuomo, the right year never came. Other candidates and campaigns, like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, ignored the ‘experts;’ put their trust in the electorate to do what is right; and stepped boldly onto the stage of history.

"When people come to me saying there's too much to do – fighting for HIV/AIDS patients who have had their funding cut, working for change at the Federal level and all the other things that we must do – I tell them that we can do it all. We are not small people, and we have no idea how much we are capable of doing,” Jeffrey Taylor, another Cat Wrangler from the IAG.

When do you want your rights back? Now? Then join the movement – gather the signatures to get back on the ballot in 2010 – be a part of history. There is no wrong time to fight for what’s right.

Jane Wishon, Member of the IAG
Straight Ally Women 4 Equality

Working Together for Equality: The Interim Organizational Structure & Signature Gathering Meeting for 2010 Campaign

Guest Post: Jane Wishon is a straight mother-of-three who has been married 33 years. She actively campaigned against Prop 8 and has started a cause for straight allies on Facebook. Jane also volunteers for AIDS Project LA, and twitters @janewishon

The California LGBT and Ally community has now held 3 statewide meetings in the past 5 weeks and, as they say, practice makes perfect. Last Saturday’s gathering in San Francisco brought activists from 2010, 2012, and undecided groups together in respectful dialogue and coalition building.

The day started, before we even arrived at the meeting venue, with an email about the surprising op-ed in that day’s Sacramento Bee. The co-founders of the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club (a prominent 2012 proponent) called for a coordinated strategy with those who are driving towards a 2010 proposition to repeal Prop 8. Could it be that the LGBT Community was coming together with a common goal of equality?

Several of the attendees in San Francisco had previously stated their preference for a later poll date, yet there they were at a meeting with the stated purpose of creating structure for signature gathering for 2010. Molly McKay [of Marriage Equality USA] stood at the podium and gave a stirring speech about the importance of coalition-building and keeping all our options open.

After the total chaos of the July Leadership Summit in San Bernardino, the anti-equality forces crowed and celebrated. The National Organization for Marriage and Focus on the Family sent their members congratulatory emails filled with examples of our infighting and claiming it as proof that they will win the battle to exclude LGBT people from equal marriage rights. What a difference 5 weeks makes!

Because of this glimmer of cooperation, I believe that the day was already a success before the activists began to work on the stated goals:

1. Elect a group of individuals to oversee the formation of an Interim Administrative Group (IAG) that will be charged with creating a Recipient Committee.
2. Hear proposals, discuss, and reach consensus on a structure for a signature gathering effort to restore marriage equality; officers would be elected to the positions created at later meeting(s).
   

What a bonus that real progress was made; real decisions were reached!

The meeting began with a brief explanation of the agenda by Robin McGehee (who did a fantastic job of facilitating the day) and rolled into a conversation with the second nationally renowned political consultant to address the LGBT community in recent weeks.

Ace Smith is a veteran campaign strategist based in San Francisco. He helped win Hillary Clinton's Primary campaign in both California and Texas despite being considerably outspent by the opposition. In 2005, Smith managed Antonio Villaraigosa's underdog campaign for Mayor of Los Angeles. Despite being outspent by over $1 million in the primary campaign, Villaraigosa beat the incumbent mayor, James Hahn by 11%, and went on to rack up a 19-point lead in the general election. One activist confided to me that Smith is one of the top five political consultants in the state.

Smith took the time to explain campaigns to the grassroots activists. Like Steve Hildebrand three weeks before, Smith told the crowd that this is a civil rights issue, so traditional wisdom does not apply. Smith also agreed with Hildebrand’s statements that there is no reason to wait – that this is a winnable battle for 2010. Citing Bill Clinton’s and Barack Obama’s campaigns as examples of times when conventional wisdom counseled “wait,” yet elections were won, Smith reminded us that there is no crystal ball to foretell the outcome of an election.

Hildebrand had emphasized the need to get a campaign structure in order. Smith opined that there is a need for a two-pronged campaign structure that empowers strong leadership while enabling the grassroots. He emphasized the need for the energy and enthusiasm of grassroots activism. “This is a civil rights movement. You can’t script it. You have to let people go. They have to be able to organize freely. Capturing lightning in a bottle, it either happens or it doesn’t, you have to let it happen. It’s what you’re seeking to achieve, but you don’t do it by planning a typical campaign.”

That said, there also must be an executive committee that is nimble and able to act quickly, as in responding to new tactics by the opposition.

For me, one of the most remarkable statements Smith made was when he was asked for advice about what to do when the opposition runs ads that make false claims about gay marriage being taught in school. Smith replied that it is important for the campaign to act quickly to tell the public that those are lies. He reemphasized the importance of being frank with the public that they are being lied to because the public does not like being lied to and manipulated. Smith cited examples of similar campaign practices he had countered in other elections.

Taking Ace Smith’s advice, the assembled activists heard and discussed presentations of five potential organizational models. By the end of the day, an event occurred that I had despaired of ever seeing in the California LGBT community: consensus! A clear indicator that things have changed!

The activists chose the Davis Plan, so named because it builds on ideas created in Davis, CA while activists there watched the live stream of the August 9 meeting in Los Angeles. Linda Waite of GSAFE in Davis collaborated with John Patterson of RENWL in Los Angeles to flesh out those ideas and create the plan that calls for 10 regions in the state to elect representatives to a leadership body. (See video of August 9 meeting)

Those representatives will be joined by representatives elected by diversity caucuses and those appointed by the top LGBT organizations in the state. That combined body will elect an executive body that will then hire or appoint specialists as needed. This structure has the potential to morph into a leadership structure for the campaign. The framers of this structure were asked to fine-tune the plan in collaboration with the authors of the other plans.

Acknowledging the need for leadership while the positions in the Davis Plan are populated, activists self-nominated for an Interim Administrative Group (IAG). This group will serve as interim leadership going into the signature gathering. The activists also empowered the IAG to add to their own number should it determine that specific skills are needed.

The new IAG is nicely diverse. Discrepancies in geographic representation will be addressed this week by the newly elected administrative group:

• Kelechi Anyanwu (San Jose)
• Lester Aponte (LA)
• Aaron Bloom (LA)
• John Cleary (LA)
• John Henning (LA)
• Misha Houser (Orange County)
• Zakiya Khabir (San Diego)
• Lisa Kove (San Diego)
• Jordan Krueger (LA)
• Chaz Lowe (Sacramento)
• Jane Wishon (LA)
  

Next steps: The Davis Plan will be refined and published. Regional meetings will take place to elect representatives. The IAG will begin the hard work to create a Recipient Committee for the signature gathering. Watch this space for updates on how you can help to restore marriage equality to California.