Op-Ed: A Great Opportunity

Note from UTF: I wanted to bring this back to the main page. It has sparked good discussion (here and on Facebook), and with the 'Next Steps Summit' coming this Sunday, I thought I'd highlight it again.

Contributor Dawn Cobalt is an independent film maker active in the fight for equality. She and her partner of 25 years Marie Cobalt work with UnitetheFight.org in filming and broadcasting live web streams and both are members of the OUT West Coalition.

After returning from the Equality Summit in San Bernardino I now feel that a great opportunity for our community is at hand. Some who may have also attended can disagree but let me explain.

We’re at a crossroads about when we can regain a right we all lost this past November. Polls, opinions, past experience and fear are pulling us apart. Polls, for the most part, show that we wouldn’t win in any year in the near future.

If we add wording to protect religious institutions we may win. Wording to protect religious institutions was previously put forth in the ruling of the Supreme Court in May of 2008.

The wording on protecting children is a big debate, and rightly so. But we need to send a positive message to the LGBTQI youth that desperately look to us to see if they are “okay”. We need to remember what it was like when we weren’t out and had to live in fear. We are playing politics with peoples lives that can’t vote yet. We are the people that the LGBTQI youth is now looking up to and we must act accordingly with these responsibilities.

Opinions are everywhere and with good cause. We’re a diverse group and we’re part of every minority group out there: race, creed, religious beliefs, non-religious beliefs, etc. We must walk in many different shoes to fully understand each other. The only binding aspect of “us” is our sexual and transgender identity. Because we all belong to other groupings, minority and otherwise, this can alter our view in our fight for equality.

Fear tells us that if we lose again we’re done. No one likes to lose and losing does set things back, but we need to learn from our mistakes. We have learned this time around that the community needs to get up and do something and not be complacent.

This is our time to reach out to each other and really listen. We need to rise up and move forward. Embrace the strengths of each group, praise their accomplishments and use those strengths within our community. Educate each other and not put down the ones that are not aware of the differences that separate us. We need to show the world that we are a strong, diverse community that works together. Until we do this, the Prop 8 proponents will always win.

Here is the reality of the situation. A majority of grassroots organizations want to go again in 2010. A majority of individuals in the community want to go back to the voters in 2010. This will be the movement for the moment, whether you want 2010, 2012 or beyond. We can stalemate all the way to November 2010 or we can put our differences aside and help each other. If our communities can gather the necessary signatures to get the initiative on the ballot, then it is up to the grassroots organizations to work together towards passing the initiative. If the signatures do not add up we must work to change hearts and minds until 2012.

We can show the state, the country, and the world that as a community we can come together, win or lose. And what if we lose, what then? Then we recover and we don’t stop until full equality is ours. But in the meantime we showed everyone how important equality is to us.

And equally important we show our LGBTQI youth that they are supported and loved in this world. We may show someone who’s now struggling will turn toward the movement instead of alcohol or drugs. A gay man walking home late at night doesn’t get bashed because it is frowned upon a little bit more. A transgender person will make it home without a trip to the hospital first because we show that being different is something to embrace. A lesbian getting in her car doesn’t get raped for 45 minutes because we got right back up and said it’s not okay to treat us differently.

It takes time to win a war, as we all know. But the smaller battles along the way, the ones we don’t always know about make the bigger difference. The people that get saved will then stand up, join the ones already standing, and grow. We will embrace each other and we will win.

Let’s not let this opportunity slip away.

Dawn Cobalt

dandmcobalt@yahoo.com

Doesn't Matter When We Return to the Ballot, the Work Must Begin Now!

Contributor Josh Einsohn has lived in Los Angeles for 14 years, working in the Entertainment Industry, and is a Dallas, Texas native. Like so many others, he woke up after the defeat of Prop. 8 and realized that he had more to give than had clearly been given in the last campaign. He founded ALLorNotAtAll.org and is producing PSAs and adding content so that his site can slowly become an educational hub for all sides of the debate. ALLorNotAtAll is also part of the OUTWest.

With all the attention paid to the Marriage Equality Summit [in San Bernardino] and whether or not we were going to go back to the ballot in this year or that year and who was going to get to decide how to decide what to decide, there was not a great deal of attention paid to an event which may prove to be more important to the health and growth of the grassroots movement, ultimately. Unfortunately, a lot of people had to catch planes and so forth, and even more people just left in a huff, but it's a shame that more people couldn't stay for the Grassroots meeting that was held in a wonderfully well-air-conditioned room just after the larger event.

A little over 30 people attended the meeting that was co-moderated by Kristi Campbell of Equality Inland Empire and myself. We had a very loose agenda, but the main point of the meeting was to get people talking about the work that has to be done. I opened the meeting by saying something like: "Imagine for a moment that the decision has been made about when we're going and it's exactly what you wanted. Ok. Now, what does that campaign look like? What do you know to do? What do you want to learn to do? How can we in this room help each other with that?"

It became a chance to share ideas of, "Hey! This worked great in our community!" and to ask questions of each other and to offer support and suggestions. Some good ideas came up and there were little nuggets of wisdom that were mentioned and suddenly you'd see someone's eyes light up and start taking notes. Here are a few of the ideas floated, advice given and suggestions made:

• On behalf of OUTWest, I offered to share our Constitution with anyone who might want to form a coalition in their part of the state. It would have to be tailored, of course, but my hope was that other groups might be able to skip some of the growing pains with support or advice or tales from the trenches from OUTWest's formation.
• OUTWest is also sponsoring an event called Boot Camp...it will educate about some of the more advanced issues in running a campaign in terms of finances and what areas need to be targeted and how certain areas were won in the last campaign and so on. People who attend that will definitely be able to leave and go help their communities to lead. (More info to come.)
  
• Robin McGehee brought up the need for the true grassroots groups to communicate together better. For example, if we know that there's going to be a major summit, we should coordinate a separate meeting for just the grassroots folks. And I know in my perfect world, there would be coalitions all over the state and reps from those coalitions would be in constant contact with each other...offering help, advice and support when needed.
• There is a website called blue-friends.com that is used as a sort of LGBT activists social networking site.
• We really need to create the sense of a movement...someone proposed doing a Freedom Ride through smaller towns. (I hear Equal Roots may be working on something like this already!)
• There were stories of having events in some of the smaller communities on the outskirts of the big cities in some of the suburbs and areas that never get any attention.
• We need to keep all LGBT issues in the media because they all tie together and make sure the media gets that. For example, there's going to be a vigil in West Hollywood this Friday to show solidarity and support for the victims of the murders in Tel Aviv. We want the press there and we want them to see that any inequality at all makes us a different class of human that is "ok" for haters to attack. DADT, teen suicide, marriage equality...they all tie together and every time the press comes, we need to keep making that connection for them.
• Take advantage of local public access television...it's cheap!
• SD Pride had an Olympic-style torch relay through all the smaller suburbs and they got proclamations of support from the mayors or officials of each one of those areas.
• Join The Impact offered to continue to help networking and facilitating communication between the grassroots groups.
• We had a long discussion about the trans community and how it is often marginalized...but one transgender woman also talked about how many people in their segment of the community do too much to marginalize themselves. Both sides need to reach out. The idea of a Transgender 101 sort of workshop came up to help educate groups and coalitions that may want to support them but not really know how.
• We also had a very interesting talk about race that started with my asking: "I'm a big, tall white guy. Does it really do any good to have a face like mine canvassing in a neighborhood of people that don't look like me? I'll go anywhere, of course, but does it hurt or help?" A number of interesting points were raised after that...the main one was that it doesn't matter what you look like as long as you are well-educated and friendly. However, some good caution points were brought up that may not be getting addressed by the canvassing orgs. For example, more than just having someone in the group who is able to speak the languages of that neighborhood, is there someone who understands the cultures? Is there training going on to make sure that canvassers know that some cultures appreciate a hand-shake and some do not? Or that sometimes you need to ask to speak to the head of the household or it would be considered rude? These are the sorts of details that we need to attend to...if we want their vote and support, we should make sure that the message is delivered in such a way and with a level of respect that will engender and facilitate open dialogue and the possible changing of minds.
• I also mentioned that I was going to be working with some local POC communities to help them produce microtargeted spots since I have the technical ability, but not the cultural know-how. I know that Eugene from TruthAndHope.org ran a successful campaign for Obama doing just that and they are already talking to pollsters about how to run similar spots in California to target specific communities...cheaply, quickly and efficiently.
  

We spent 90 minutes talking with each other and it was friendly, respectful and supportive. It felt good...so many people pay lip service to these ideas but never really discuss them and help each other out. After a rough day, I'd say the people who left this meeting were in a much better space than the people who left the main summit as soon as it was over.

In the week since the summit, I've started to sense a new movement...a sort of pragmatic need to start the work now, regardless of when we go. Everyone's tired of the bickering and infighting and my hope is that more creative ideas are being generated all over the state and that the work is starting already. (Speaking of which, I'll have a new PSA to share in the very near future!)

I hope we all take a breath and choose to see where we fit into the next campaign and start working on THAT...whatever THAT is...right away. 2010, 2012, 2014...it won't matter when we go if we don't buckle down and start the work right now.

Good luck to us all!

In solidarity,
Josh Einsohn, Founder
ALLorNotAtAll.org

Returning to the Ballot: It's Not About When Anymore, It's About Uniting. And Other Points of View

The effects of this past weekend's Leadership Summit in San Bernardino, CA is still being felt and processed far and wide, with intense debate about its outcome and with different groups moving ahead with their various strategic plans.

My post on the summit, "CA Marriage Equality Leadership Summit an Utter Failure - Shame On All of Us", has drawn numerous reactions and has been referred to in many different opinions. I have been told by many that I hit the nail on the head, others have said I want it all to be kum by ya and that I'm too "Pollyanna," and still more have criticized me, saying that for someone who is trying to unite the community, my piece only added division.

I must disagree. I call it tough love. Sometimes, in order to unite, we have to take a good, long, hard look at ourselves. To call the summit anything other than a failure to me is not constructive because it undermines the seriousness of our divisions. (See the results of the Get Engaged Tour. Its bottom line result: there is no consensus.)

In my piece, I called for our community to put aside our differences, to unite by allowing ourselves to heal from the damage of Prop 8, to trust each other, and most importantly, trust our leadership again. That "it's not about 2010 or 2012 anymore. It's about us uniting. Only then, can we win."

I haven't stated on this blog whether or not I support 2010 or 2012. In my summit piece, I did state that at one time I was personally for 2010, but that after the summit, I just don't see how that's possible with us, as a whole, not united. Does that mean I won't support it? No. But those in favor of 2010 first have to prove that they can unite us, and by doing so, show true leadership.

Here's my official stance: I will support either date, or a later date, because now, it doesn't matter to me when. (And yes, I want to marry my partner. It's devastating not to be able to NOW.) What matters to me most is that we have a united front working together to WIN. And I will work tirelessly on seeing to it that we do unite. (I may have to show tough love at times again!)

People have asked numerous times, "Can you put a price on your rights?" If that price is the unity of our community, then that price is too high. For who are we if we don't have each other?

I've already seen, as the result of the summit and its failure, people already making efforts to work with those they disagree with, because they realize keeping us united is more of a priority than stubbornly sticking to what they believe is to be the one and only path.

I'll quote Karen Ocamb from her piece on the summit:

It seems to me that the first step to winning back marriage equality is finding a mediator who can help this community find common ground and learn to keep our eye on the prize so we can move forward together. There are now so many LGBT folk who want to be leaders - let this be their first real test of leadership: find a way to bring us together.

I repeat, it's not about 2010 or 2012 anymore. It's about us uniting. Only then, can we win.

Below are links to other posts and articles on the Leadership Summit. If you have one and want it to be added, please email me with a link at info@unitethefight.org.

Karen Ocamb's posts:
What Really Happened at the Repeal Prop 8 Leadership Summit
Repeal Prop 8 Leadership Summit: The Expert Point of View
The Unnoticed Power Player at the Repeal Prop 8 Leadership Summit

Dawn Cobalt: A Great Opportunity

The Advocate: 2010? 2012? The Fight in California Continues

Gay Fresno: Strategy & Self-Preservation

The New Civil Rights Movement (Jane Wishon): Recipe for Disaster?

OC Weekly: Anti-Prop 8/Pro-Gay Marriage Summit Deemed "a Disaster"

David Mixner: Oh California!

Queerty: Are There Any California Activists Who Know How to Play Well With Others?

The Gawker: California Activists Not Going to Bother Overturning Prop 8 Next Year

Sara Beth Brooks and Chelsea Salem: The Elephant in the Room

Edge: 2010 Prop 8 Repeal Effort Up in the Air

Bay Area Reporter: Gays squabble over Prop 8 repeal debate

Beyond Chron: Repealing Prop 8: Should We Do it in 2010 – or 2012?

Jeff Cilione: 2010 and the Irrelevancy of EQCA

CA Marriage Equality Leadership Summit an Utter Failure - Shame On All of Us

Maybe it was the heat. Maybe it was that an amazingly gracious church who, on a hot, San Bernardino summer day, had 200 sweltering people emotionally overheated and packed into its hall with an AC struggling to keep up.

Or maybe it's because the California LGBT population has cannibalized its leadership to the point where no one is willing to take the unpopular stance of leading this wounded community made up of people that will bite anyone's head off who has a slightly different opinion from theirs.

Whatever you believe the reason to be, the Leadership Summit on Sunday was an utter failure. And we have no one to blame but ourselves.

Our community has splintered into factions lead by no one, going in all different directions with various agendas, some with good intentions, but many motivated by egos in attempt to out maneuver the other, causing us to fight each other instead of those who have taken away our rights. And why? Because our leadership once failed us in a disastrous campaign which ended not with rights being denied us, but rights we enjoyed being stripped away from us, leaving us naked and exposed. And now we're so anti-leadership, we have spiraled into a quagmire of anarchy with no visible way out. ("The Tyranny of Structurelessness.")

And we're still grieving the loss of our rights. Right now, we're in the angry phase of grieving, but instead of channeling our anger in the proper direction at those who were truly responsible for taking our rights away (NOT our leadership), we're behaving like humans and taking it out on our brothers and sisters. (Read "Marriage Amendments and Psychological Distress in Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual (LGB) Adults.")

I'm not going to go into a lot of detail about what happened at the Leadership Summit. I streamed it live, I recorded it, you can watch it. But it boils down to this:

1. Hard working organizers struggled long and hard to have a successful summit and took lots of consideration into putting together an agenda.
2. Attendees showed up, decided to more or less ignore the agenda (which wasn't, sadly, sent out in advance so attendees weren't prepared), crucified "the experts" and ran an ad hoc meeting.
   
3. People hissed and booed those they didn't agree with, spoke over each other, shouted out cuss words, and debated every single tentative, progressive step forward. Yet at the same time, many attendees demanded a final decision be made on when to return to the ballot without agreeing on a process or getting the rest of the community's input.
   
4. Ended with nothing accomplished. No next steps, no decision on when to return to the ballot, no agreed upon process to decide when to return to the ballot, no agreed upon deadline for a decision on when to return to the ballot. (The Coalition of the Willing was not agreed upon.)
   
5. Oh, and a last minute straw poll about 2010 vs. 2012 while people were filing out to leave, which was a last ditch effort to feel that something was accomplished but means absolutely nothing other than highlights the dire straits we find ourselves in.

Is this what we have succumbed to? We should be ashamed of ourselves! (And I definitely include myself here.) We have all but forgotten our opposition and instead have aimed our bloody spears at each other.

Just the other day, I posted an audio recording of a secret meeting with Ron Prentice whose Protect Marriage group was responsible for Prop 8. At this meeting, he gleefully asked that attendees pray for LGBT divisiveness on this issue. He then said, "Which sounds typical, doesn't it?"

Maybe there is a God. Because it appears their prayers have been answered.

But the Leadership Summit wasn't a complete failure. It illuminated many facts about the state of our community.

First, we're not done grieving our loss brought upon us by Prop 8. The full scope of its damage has yet to be seen by us because we're still too close to it. We're emotional and want the pain to end, resulting in many of us wanting to rush blindly back to the ballot, and who can blame us? (I myself wanted to rush back at one point.) But we have failed to see that Prop 8 did much more than strip us of our rights. Its tragedy has also made it nearly impossible to gain them back anytime soon in the near future. 2012 seems light years away, and we're going to have to live with this burden of second-class citizenship until then? (Don't get me started on the many other inequalities, not just marriage.) As for 2010, I honestly used to think we could do it, because collectively and united, we really could. But after witnessing the Summit, I just don't see it happening, even with the dedication of the pro-2010 groups. Nor do many major donors it appears. (I understand a great but small meeting took place after the summit, but again, many had already left and yet again, it's another faction.)

Second, we have become what we've hated. Right after the election, we were right to be angry at our leadership. We were right to demand accountability, something that was missing during the campaign. We were right to demand an apology for such a historical mishap, which has failed to occur. But we have taken it too far and for too long. In such a short amount of time, we have cannibalized our leadership to the point where we barely have any, and those who remain have nearly given up on the community, refuse to take a stand to lead again, or have been forced into the shadows to do things, yet again, without community involvement. (After witnessing the summit, who would want to involve us?) We are now what our leadership once was - unaccountable.

But also in this short amount of time, we have failed to see the new leadership for what it is. Accountable to us. Open. Willing to listen. Vocal. And all this almost to a fault. Why? Because we have lost our trust. We demanded to take the responsibility away from them and do it ourselves, many of us with no experience. And we have the right and power to do that. They are our leadership after all. But look where it's got us! After the summit, no one knows what to do now and we have no map! This isn't like an improv troupe with no director. We can't improvise this!

We need to trust our leadership again. But they need to remain accountable, something that didn't happen before.

Rick Jacobs of Courage Campaign, whom I admire and for whom I hold deep respect, needs to stop dissing EQCA in the press. Rick needs to sit down with Marc Solomon, EQCA Marriage Director, and work it out (this includes Torie Osborne, Robin McGeHee and many others). Marc Solomon, Marriage Director for EQCA, whom has earned my respect and trust, and EQCA itself, need to stop trying to one-up Courage Campaign in an attempt to keep EQCA relevant. I call out these two, not only because I know them well, but specifically because Courage Campaign has rightfully gained a lot of the grassroots trust through its amazing Camp Courage sessions throughout the state, but has also been hellbent on taking the lead away from EQCA. Geoff Kors of EQCA, doing something smart and staying out of the picture, hired Marc Solomon. Marc has, since his arrival, done great work for the community, including marriage efforts, and for me, has restored EQCA's respect, but he has also done his share of pulling the rug out from Courage Campaign in an effort to stay relevant.

I call out Love Honor Cherish for steamrolling their position and strong-arming many in the community to follow them or take the highway. I call out the Prepare to Prevail Coalition for its tendency in the past to be isolationists and not truly engaging in discussion (at one point, yes, they were stonewalled out, but that is not the case anymore and they need to engage, especially if invited to discuss their views). I call out the grassroots activists and community organizers - YOU ARE NOT EXPERTS. Stop throwing the baby out with the bathwater and LISTEN.

If these organizations and coalitions, along with Marriage Equality USA, can just drop the shit and finger pointing, sit down and together form blueprints for both 2010 and 2012 (delegates from each locked in a room together), stop coddling the community and actually lead us in a common direction, then we may actually get somewhere. They set the tone. They set the example. Lead. We follow.

We need to heal. To heal, we need to trust. How can we possibly even think about doing another campaign when we can't even sit in the same room with each other for a few hours, such as at the Summit? And the sad thing - we're all on the same side but view each other and our leaders with disdain. We have lost sight of the fact that we have all been hurt by Prop 8, all have good intentions and have all but forgotten the opposition - who by the way, is literally watching us with smug smiles on their faces.

It's time for us to get over it and move on to a better future. It's not about "repealing Prop 8" anymore. Prop 8 is done. It's in the history books. ITS BLOT IS NEVER GOING TO GO AWAY. We can turn that into what motivates us! What we have to do now is unite, show the world who we are, educate them about us, show them what a mistake Prop 8's existence is, and that when they have another chance to vote on it on a brand new initiative, they won't even have to think about it and we'll have the right to join in on marriage.

But that can't happen without our healing. And that requires trust. This may seem like one of the most negative posts I've ever written, and maybe it is, but I also know what I've seen, and I'm calling it out so it can stop. Because for me, after witnessing the Summit, it's not about 2010 or 2012 anymore. It's about us uniting. Only then, can we win.

Trust the leadership again. Trust that they'll make the best decisions they can with the community in mind. Then shut up, get in line and get to work. We have our rights to win back.

Yesterday Was a Big Day at the Leadership Summit

Just ask anyone who was there or witnessed it online - the Leadership Summit yesterday in San Bernardino was a draining experience - tons of opinions on next steps for marriage equality, an agenda that many didn't want to stick to, extreme heat, tons of people packed into a hall where the AC couldn't keep up, hissing, booing, applause, cheers, highs and lows.

I will be taking today to gather my thoughts and put together my post on it. I hear positive developments have indeed resulted from yesterday's meeting.

Stay tuned.

Leadership Summit Video Recordings (More to Come)

Hello All - Part 3, unfortunately may never arrive. When trying to save the recording through UStream, I clicked on a tab to get info on the video for tags and description, and when I clicked back, it disappeared. I'm hoping all is not lost due to the fact it was a large video and takes processing time. In the meantime, here's what was recorded below.

If the visual doesn't work in the embed below, you can watch them on UTF's channel on UStream.



There's a gap here due to timing out on my recording, a restriction from UStream.



Check out one of the first reports on the Leadership Summit from SF Gate. (Hey, and it links to here!)

Unite the Fight Streaming CA Leadership Summit on Marriage Equality Now!

Unite the Fight will provide a live stream of tomorrow's Leadership Summit in San Bernardino, CA. The summit will be a large gathering of California LGBT organizations' leaders, individual activists, community organizers and allies. Many items will be discussed, but most prominently, next steps towards winning marriage equality back in California. (I will provide an agenda once it becomes available.)

Bookmark this post so you can return tomorrow to watch the live stream. You will be able to chat with fellow viewers, Twitter and ask Unite the Fight questions during the Leadership Summit. This post will also be put at the top of the site when the summit begins.

Please be patient as technical problems are always sure to arise unexpectedly.

When: Saturday, July 25
Time: Approx. 10am PST through 4pm PST

MAJOR THANKS TO DAWN AND MARIE COBALT FOR MAKING THIS POSSIBLE WITH THEIR CAMERA!! AND TO ROBIN MCGEHEE FOR SAVING THE DAY WITH HER MOBILE INTERNET CONNECTION!

You can view the recorded Live Leadership Summit here.

Expert Panel Consists of . . .

Richie Ross, who has long history with United Farm Workers and has lots of experience with ballot initiatives in California. Brought to the panel by EQCA.

Paul Mandabach, brought to the panel by Yes on Equality! and is considered a major political consultant.

Sheri Sadler, media planner brought to the panel by Love Honor Cherish.

Sarah Callahan, COO of Courage Campaign.

Steve Caplan, brought to the panel by Yes on Equality!

Will add more information when available.

Leadership Summit Agenda

Just got the agenda. Here it is.

Process Used to Devise Agenda

· Survey went out to the participants of the Fresno Leadership Summit, the Poll4Equality group, OUTWest, Q*POC, and other places to solicit input from many parts of our movement about what should be on theagenda. Upwards of 50 people responded to the survey.

· A conference call was held on Wednesday, July 15 from to get more feedback and input on the agenda. Over 25 people representing a cross-section of groups from across the state participated.

· Several task forces were created to make recommendations about how specific portions of the potential agendamight be handled. They met between the July 15-July 20

· A group of people from the July 15th call volunteered to be on a drafting committee. Those people met on July 20th in person and on the phone to bring together the recommendations from the task forces, the input from the call, and the data from the survey to craft the proposed agenda below.

· A second conference call was held on July 22nd for anyone to give their feedback, comments, and suggest edits to the agenda proposed by the drafting committee. Those edits were sent back to the drafting committee and what you have before you is the final product of an open, transparent process.

Drafting Committee: Ari Gutierrez (Latino Equality Alliance), Chaz Lowe (Yes on Equality), David Fleck & Mike Bonin (Courage Campaign), Marc Solomon (EQCA), Robin McGehee (Meet in the Middle), Sara Reece (The Task Force), John Lewis (Marriage Equality USA), Doreena Wong (API Equality LA), Tom Watson & Lester Aponte (Love Honor Cherish), Elizabeth Gill (ACLU of Northern California), Vincent Jones (Liberty Hill), Josh Einshorn (OUTWest & Allornotall.org)



Summit Goals/Expectations

· Discuss pros & cons of various strategies to regain marriage equality

· Seek consensus on a process for the marriage equality coalition to decide which strategy to employ

· Seek consensus around a date by which the marriage equality coalition will make a decision

· Gain an understanding of how ready our movement is to wage a campaign

· Develop strategies to improve campaign readiness

· Foster community building among the movement

Summit Values

· Inclusion

· Assume that we have the same goal: regaining marriage equality

· Leave with clear next steps

· Enable community input as much as feasibly possible



Summit Agenda

10:00 Setting the Tone

10:05 Welcome

Intros

Review Goals/Expectations

Review Suggested Rules of Engagement

Review Agenda



10:20 Ballot Timeline/Process

goals: (1) educate attendees about basic process to put initiative on ballot; (2) share various thoughts about potential timelines; (3) acknowledge that more discussion is needed about which provisions to include in ballot language; (4) explain general consensus that drafting should be entrusted to a small group with specific expertise who consider community input



10:30 Voices from Experts

Goals: (1) provide attendees an opportunity to understand what benchmarks experienced campaign consultants use to determine campaign readiness; (2) provide attendees an opportunity to get an expert analysis on where we stand with those benchmarks



11:40 Voices from the Community: Get Engaged Tour Report

Goals: (1) share feedback and findings from the statewide “Get Engaged Tour”



11:55 Voices from the Field: Canvass Report

Goals: (1) Inform attendees about some ongoing canvassing operations; (2) share findings from canvassing;



12:10 Lunch

Goals: (1) facilitate networking and conversations among activists in the same region; (2) stimulate conversation about “the movement & the campaign”; (3) enable attendees to build community



12:55 Youth, families, schools & marriage equality

Goals: (1) introduce people to the particular challenges faced by youth in the movement to regain marriage equality in a manner neutral to a particular view about when to return to the ballot; (2) let attendees know how they can participate in the ongoing discussion to overcome those challenges and protect gay youth as we work to regain marriage equality



1:10 Community Decision-Making

Goals: (1) share results of community survey on potential processes/methods for the coalition to decide how/when to return to the ballot; (2) seek consensus around a date by which a decision will be made; (3) seek consensus around a process to decide when to return to the ballot as a coalition



1:55 Regaining Marriage Equality

Goals: (1) discuss pros of returning to the ballot in 2010; (2) discuss pros of other strategies to regain marriage equality; (3) gain a sense of where organizations/individuals in the marriage equality coalition stand on returning to the ballot in 2010



2:55 Final Questions

Goals: (1) enable attendees who haven’t asked questions to ask questions of any presenters from the day



3:30 Next Steps/Wrap Up

Goals: (1) Ensure that attendees are on the same page about next steps from previous conversations throughout the day; (2) Enable attendees to suggest and agree to additional next steps; (3) Provide attendees an opportunity for some group reflection over the day; (4) Tie-up any loose ends



3:55 Conclusion
Goals: (1) End on a happy note…YES WE WILL!!!;



4:00 End