VIDEO: Los Angeles One Year Prop 8 Anniversary March and Rally. Strategies Against Prop 8 Still Vary.

Last night in Los Angeles, more than 200 hundred of us took to the streets to remember the devastating passage of Proposition 8 one year ago. And after the defeat in Maine, we had even more reason to remind the world that we won't sit back while our rights are being stripped away.

The battle with Prop 8 is far from over. The federal challenge against it is set to go to trial this January. That's right - trial! It will be the first time a marriage case will have a full trial, with expert witnesses, first-hand accounts and an examination into the motivations of those who work against us.

Chad Griffin of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, the organization behind the Olson/Boies team fighting Prop 8 in court, said "Our founding fathers did not intend for people's Constitutional rights to be determined by political campaigns. The results in Maine underscore exactly why we are challenging California's same sex marriage ban in federal court. When the Supreme Court ruled in Loving v. Virginia, more than 70 percent of Americans disapproved of interracial marriage. The U.S. Constitution guarantees equal rights to every American, and when those rights are violated, it is the role of our courts to protect us, regardless of what the polls say."



On top of the court case, Restore Equality 2010 is working to return marriage equality to California at the ballot next year. They are gearing up for signature gathering and fund-raising.

Their press release states, "Tapping into the anger of Proposition 8 and the loss in Maine, the 'Million for a Million' campaign will include an online fundraising appeal to a network of more than 400,000 grassroots activists, fundraising events in Southern California, Northern California and the Central Valley, and outreach to major donors within the LGBT community in California and throughout the country."

“With a sophisticated online component and with the support we have among the grassroots, I believe we can raise the money necessary to move the campaign for 2010 to the next level,” said Eugene Hedlund, founder of TruthandHope.org, whose organization won awards for its work on the Obama campaign.




Organizations throughout the state have endorsed the “Million for a Million” campaign including: Yes! on Equality; TruthandHope.org; Equality Network; One Struggle, One Fight; Meet in the Middle for Equality; and Restore Equality 2010, whose members include Love Honor Cherish, SAME, Stonewall Democrats, Marriage Equality USA, Latino Equality Alliance and more.

Other groups are focusing on an educational campaign on marriage to lay the foundation for a 2012 ballot initiative. Equality California recently announced that they will be relaunching Let California Ring, an outreach and educational arm of the state's largest LGBT advocacy group.

Courage Campaign, one of the largest progressive netroots organizations in California and on record of being in support of 2010, is currently still conducting in-depth research, while consulting with Obama's Deputy Campaign Manager Steve Hildebrand, to determine the best strategy going forward.

Images by Marta Evry of Venice for Change; slide show by yours truly. (And yes, that's me with Lt. Dan Choi.)

Oregon Launches Marriage Equality Educational Campaign in Preparation for 2012 Ballot

As I reported earlier, Oregon has been gearing up for some time to launch an initiative to overturn the state's 2004 ban on marriage equality.

Well, that time has finally come. Basic Rights Oregon (BRO), the state's largest LGBT advocacy group, has announced that it will begin preparing for a 2012 campaign to legalize same-sex marriage.

BRO will begin with an educational campaign called "Marriage Matters to Me."

"Marriage Matters To Me is a grassroots campaign to get Oregonians talking to each other about marriage equality," says the website. "The most important and influential conversations we have are with the people we know and care about. For the many Oregonians who believe that extending civil marriage to same sex couples is a matter of basic fairness and respect, Marriage Matters To Me is an easy and powerful way to start that conversation."

BRO believes that next year will be too soon to bring the question before Oregonians. Instead, they believe having a conversation first will lay the foundation for a 2012 initiative campaign.

"The heat of a campaign is no time to have a calm, heartfelt conversation about why civil marriage is so important" to gays and lesbians, the group's executive director, Jeana Frazzini, told the AP.

However, they group does have the end goal in mind. Frazzini told the Oregon Live that the goal is "to allow same-sex couples to legally marry in this state. There is no substitute for the respect and dignity that comes with marriage."

But like California, Oregon faces a difficult challenge in convincing voters to reverse their earlier decision and vote in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage..

"We're going to fight it, and we'll fight it just as hard now as we did in 2004," said Tim Nashif, the political director of the church-backed group Oregon Family Council. "I don't think Oregonians are going to overturn Measure 36," which defines marriage as a bond between only a man and a woman.

Evan Wolfson, executive director of Freedom to Marry, is directly involved in Oregon's effort to bring equality to its LGBT population.

Marriage "is one of the most important statements we make about who we are," he told Oregon Live. "It is so important to commitment and love that most people wear the symbol of it on their hands."

At the "Marriage Matters to Me" website, individuals and couples can upload videos of themselves, explaining exactly why marriage does in fact matter to them. Byron and Juan's video is featured on the home page.



Also on the website is a pledge for marriage equality supporters to sign, pledging that they will discuss with friends, family and neighbors why marriage equality is so important to them.

Today, Oregon's neighbor in the north, Washington state, will determine whether or not to keep its new "everything but marriage" domestic partnership law. It's neighbor in the south, California, may face a ballot to restore marriage equality in either 2010 or 2012.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: EQCA's Marc Solomon Talks About Relaunching 'Let California Ring', 2010 and 2012

There's been a lot of talk lately about the progress Restore Equality 2010 has been making throughout California, a coalition of grassroots groups who believe in returning to the ballot in 2010 to restore marriage equality. They've created the Davis Plan, which divides California up into 10 regions which will then elect their own representatives, and have established an Interim Administrative Group that is helping organize the process.

But during all this progress, I've wondered, "What progress is being made for November, 2012?" One of the major accusations against those who support 2012 is that they prefer to wait for their rights instead of fighting for them immediately. They object to this claim, stating that for the next three years, they will be working hard to navigate California's complicated demographics through field work and messaging, leading to a well-developed campaign for 2012.

So I decided to check in with Marc Solomon, Marriage Director for Equality California (EQCA), whose organization has become the forefront of the 2012 movement. When I called him up, he remarked on my timing. EQCA had a major announcement to make.

The Announcement

We sat down together at Java Detour, a local coffee house haunt, and I asked, "What's the big announcement?"

"We are relaunching Let California Ring," Marc answered. "By that I mean, we’ve added new people to the Executive Committee and the idea is to bring together resources and leaders who are doing critical work on the ground."

A press release issued today stated, "Let California Ring is the country’s largest marriage education effort of its kind. Today a broad-based coalition re-launched Let California Ring, a comprehensive campaign to build support for marriage for California’s same-sex couples with a focus on work in communities of color."

"Let California Ring (LCR) is a not-for-profit marriage education campaign. It’s not about a specific year - it’s about educating and moving people on the issue of marriage," Marc told me. "Between 2006 and 2008, it invested 15 million dollars of moving people on the freedom to marry. It did a lot of work – it invested about 4 million in paid advertising and different kinds of media – newspaper, radio, some television, all in the people of color (POC) communities.

"There was a lot of good work done, but it was overshadowed by the win in courts [the marriage cases] and the NO on 8 campaign, which was a much bigger and intense campaign."

Though Equality California Institute is the fiscal sponsor, LCR is a coalition of groups. "LCR is housed at EQCA Institute, we’re the convenors, but the Executive Committee of LCR is charged with developing budget, raising the funding – so it’s a true coalition and partnership."

The New Let California Ring

So, who are the new people on the LCR's Executive Committee?

"The people who have stayed on is Evan Wolfson of Freedom to Marry; Matt Foreman of HAAS Jr. Fund and former Executive Director of the Task Force and Empire State Pride Agenda; Thalia Zepatos, consultant of the National Collaborative, and Shannon Minter [of NCLR]," Marc informed. "New folks are me, Marc Solomon; Louis Lopez, founder of Honor PAC, who in my opinion, is the most sophisticated Latino LGBT organization that I’ve run across; Karin Wang, who's on the board of API Equality LA; Ron Buckmire, who chairs the Jordan Rustin Coalition; Rev. Madison Schockley, an amazing supporter, who is an African American United Church of Christ minister in N. County San Diego; Kathy Schwamberger, Vice Chair of EQCA Institute Board; and Roger Doughty, Executive Director of the Horizons Foundation out of San Francisco."

So what's the plan?

"We want to raise at least 15 million over the next three years," Marc said. "The primary focus of this work is going to be to move POC communities on the issue of marriage."

By partnering with organizations represented in the LCR's Executive Committee, as well as faith organizations, such as California Faith For Equality, Marc informed they plan "to do message testing development across the board, but particularly develop messaging that will work in these specific communities." All of this will be part of an education campaign.

"What we want to do in 2010 is research and work on pilot projects to put in place the messaging and delivery mechanisms that work, and put people on the ground to do the field organizing. So yes, it involves message testing."

And after that?

"The next step is to improve our messaging and then to add more components to a field education campaign. The additional components are media, TV, radio, online, newspaper ads, direct mail, mobilizing leaders in the community, getting news stories placed," he said.

Marc then refers to the work LCR did in the past, which he characterizes as having been "pretty scientific."

"They picked Santa Barbara and Monterey, which are similar communities in many respects," he said. In Santa Barbara and Monterey, they did polling before any work was begun. Then in Santa Barbara, they began an education campaign with paid media and field work. In Monterey, which was the control variable, they did no work.

"It was a two month experiment and there was some pretty dramatic movement in the polling [in Santa Barbara]," Marc said. "People from 18-29, the movement was 19% and Monterey showed no movement."

"It created this echo chamber [in Santa Barbara] where you see the TV ads and you talk about them, and you see someone at your fair and festival, talk to someone about marriage, you get a knock on your door, you get a direct mail, and it spurred on lots and lots of conversations and it spurred on a lot of volunteer activity," Marc continued. "So Santa Barbara was more prepared for the NO on 8 campaign. If you talked to the Santa Barbara people at the Gay and Lesbian Center, they were really ready and put on a strong local effort."

Santa Barbara voted against Prop 8, a marked change from Prop 22.

"People move only one way on this issue, and it’s our way," he said. "It’s about provoking conversations, hearing people’s personal stories, seeing things that relate to you and on television."

So how will LCR look today?

"We want many more groups and organizations involved with this work as much as possible," Marc said. "We’re creating three committees to help them get involved."

1. Messaging Committee - they will work with a team of experts, some with more specific expertise in POC messaging. "What we’re envisioning is that all the people out there with the ideas of messaging - because many people have become real analysts of media - we want to provide a way for plenty of input and suggestions and then test them and try them out. We then want to go out and do real training on how to use the messaging. And have different methods on line and use our field operation as a means of disseminating that messaging. Having a task force for the back and forth is important."
2. Families Committee - this committee will focus on getting the stories of the 18,000 same-sex couples legally married in California during the "summer of love" before Prop 8 passed out to the public. "What we’ll do through this committee is organize and train married couples, their children, their parents as well as those who aspire to get married to tell their stories," Marc informed. "And specifically, one of the projects is going to set up a speakers bureau, and our field organizers will identify places for them to speak – such as churches and community groups and labor meetings, you name it. With the message research that we will have done, we will conduct training of the couples, but the most important part of the training is help people speak from the heart as to why marriage matters to them, or to their moms, son and son-in-law."
3. Field Committee - "The idea is to expand the reach and level of involvement of door-to-door canvassing. The concept that we’re thinking about or envisioning is a statewide field committee and then the local committees that will support the field work."

How will this differ from all the work going on right now, especially for 2010?

"This work is persuasion work on the freedom to marry no matter when we go back to the ballot," Marc answered. "It’s not connected to any year. It’s to build greater and greater support by having personal conversations. In order to be effective, we have to grow the numbers of people who are taking action."

The Work for 2012

What’s actually being done for 2012 that’s different?

"I think that this is the work right now that needs to happen to get ready to go back to the ballot down the road," Marc said.

But he immediately added, "So why am I saying down the road? It's because LCR is not-for-profit - it’s educational, it’s a 501c3. This work done by the EQCA Institute cannot be about a specific year."

Marc paused, thinking hard about his next words. "However, wearing my advocacy hat, we want to be in a place where were are prepared to go back to the ballot in 2012. That might sound a little convoluted, but because 501c3 is about education, it’s not about ballots."

"EQCA, the advocacy organization, has made it very clear about when we support going back to the ballot, and that’s November 2012 and not later, " he added. "We think reasonable deadlines have power."

2010 Decline to Sign Campaign?

This led to my next question on a touchy subject. There's been rumblings amongst the 2010 groups that a Decline to Sign campaign has been in the works against a 2010 ballot initiative. I asked him directly if EQCA was engaging in this, or if he knew of one in the works.

Marc shook his head and said emphatically, "I can say definitively - no. Absolutely not. And that it is shocking to hear that word is floating around, and I wonder, 'Where is this coming from?'"

I asked if he knew.

"I have no idea," he answered. "Honestly, it’s sort of sad that that idea is floating out there. Disappointing."

Thoughts on 2010 Progress

Recently, Love Honor Cherish submitted several different versions of ballot language to the Attorney General as place holders for 2010. It was reported that EQCA had input on the language. But how much?

"It was mainly Geoff," Marc said, referring to Geoff Kors, EQCA's Executive Director. "He’s a Stanford educated lawyer and has much more legal expertise than I do."

"So look, the idea is that when anything that is submitted on behalf of our community, we should be putting our best selves forward," he quickly added. "We don’t want to end up with a summary from the Attorney General or a title from the Attorney General that disadvantages us because once there’s a precedent, that could be used for future ballot language as well. We don’t want ballot language that would hurt kids and create a precedent there either. So even though we couldn’t be more clear that we think 2012 is the right time to go back and that 2010 is the wrong time to go back to the ballot, we still are providing technical support because whatever is submitted could have long-lasting ramifications."

I was curious to know what he thought of the progress made by Restore Equality 2010.

"I know a lot of the people who have gotten involved in 2010 well."

Marc then laughed as he thought of a story. "I was out this past Saturday night, and it’s almost comical. I went up to a friend of mine who is a 2010 person and asked, 'Are we allowed to talk because you’re 2010 and I’m 2012?' We just laughed about it because in some ways, it’s become this sort of dividing line. One the one hand, it’s very serious, and on the other, you can sometimes be lighthearted about the fact that we are all fighting for the exact same thing, and we are divided into these different camps.

"I respect lots and lots of people who are fighting for 2010. I admire the motivations of many of them - the passion and the reasoning. And I disagree. Period. And I wish we weren’t in this situation and I wish we were all pulling together behind a plan."

The Status of California's Grassroots

It's been almost a year since Prop 8, and I've observed energy is waning. So I asked Marc for his view was on the current grassroots situation in California.

Marc mulled this over a bit.

"In the wording of the website of LCR, which we’ve updated, we’ve made very clear that the world is a changed place and that grassroots leadership is exceptionally important to the success of the equality movement," Marc answered. "I feel EQCA, and I personally feel, a great sense of responsibility to support, nurture and learn from the new grassroots activists.

"I see some groups that are really finding niches for themselves and continue to do really important work, groups that have a lot of staying power, like Equal Roots and FAIR," he said. "I was very impressed at the leadership of Kip Williams of One Struggle One Fight. He is someone who has a huge amount of integrity. I think what he pulled off in helping put together by co-directing the [National Equality March] was really exceptional. These kind of leaders need to be supported."

Marc paused.

"At the same time, I think the idea that we should go back to the ballot as soon as possible because if we don’t, the grassroots is going to die, is sort of the tail wagging the dog. The grassroots needs to be in this struggle for marriage equality and equality for all LGBT people for the long haul."

How Supporters Can Get Involved

So where can people plug in? I asked.

"One, we’re going to have a field committee that a lot of people can plug in to," he said. "The best place is to go to your local [EQCA] field office. We’re canvassing every single weekend out of our nine field offices around the state."

These field offices will continue to operate under the EQCA name but will be supported by the work being initiated by LCR.

"The LCR field committee will be to there to enhance, support and build on existing field efforts. In some places I’m sure will work hand-in-hand with the EQCA field operation on the ground, and in other places."

The LCR website is a work in progress for now. It will provide over the next few months the most cutting edge grassroots mobilization tools available.

"Between now and election day we are phone banking everyday from 2:30-5:30pm out of our field offices to support Maine, and in the evenings to support Washington state. We’ve committed to 25,000 phone calls and I want to blow that out of the water.

"And as we roll out programs, like the speaker’s bureau, we’ll reach out to you if you're married or you can reach out to your local field organizer," Marc informed.

"If you live in the Central Valley or Silicon Valley or San Diego, I promise you our organizers will put you to work, work that is really important to winning marriage back. We need the people power now."

Read Marc's post about the relaunch at California Ripple Effect.

Rev. Troy Perry: Why I Support a Return to the Ballot in 2012

UPDATE: Rev. Troy Perry writes another piece in support for 2012.

Guest blogger Rev. Troy Perry, founder of the Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC), guided MCC’s growth over 37 years to over 43,000 members. In 2005, he retired as moderator of MCC and now maintains an active speaking schedule addressing the history of the gay rights movement, HIV issues, and marriage equality.


I’ve been fighting publicly for the right of same-sex couples to marry since 1969, when I performed the same-sex wedding ceremony of a wonderful lesbian couple (the first one in the United States). The next year, we sued the state of California and got laughed out of court. We didn’t have the money to appeal, and so we had to end our legal fight then. But I’ve been involved with the moral fight ever since.

In 2003, I married my beloved partner Philip in Canada, and we filed another lawsuit against the State of California seeking the state's recognition of our marriage. This time, they weren’t laughing. As you all know, we—and all of us—won the court decision and the freedom to marry. And then tragically, last November, a small majority of Californians voted at the ballot box to take away our right to marry the person we love.

I have never been someone to stand by and wait. I believe in what Frederick Douglass so wisely said so many years ago, “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has and it never will.” That’s why, when Anita Bryant launched her ugly campaign to take away anti-discrimination laws in 1977, I joined in the fight to stop her in Miami (sadly, we lost that one). And when State Senator John Briggs launched his campaign in 1978 to prevent gay people from working in California’s public schools, I launched a 16-day hunger strike to raise $100,000 to make sure we could fight. I would not, could not sit by while our rights were being taken from us.

With the Anita Bryant campaign and the Briggs Initiative, all the way to last year’s Prop 8 battle, we had no chance to decide when that fight would take place. Our opponents chose the date and our only choice was to sit back and lose, or to fight. This time it is different. We get to choose when we’re ready and then take it back to our opponents on our time frame.

Now I understand impatience. I am impatient to win our rights. I’ve been impatient for each of the 40-plus years I’ve been part of this battle. And I don’t want to have to wait one more day than we have to. But I do feel strongly that, since we get to choose when we go back to the ballot, we pick a time when we are ready, when our community is ready, and when we’ve convinced enough Californians to vote our way. That’s why I strongly support going back to the ballot in 2012.

Right now, we have lots of hard work in front of us. Three years of work, in my view. We need to tell our stories, all of us. We need to engage people who are not yet with us, and do so in a manner where they can hear our cry for our dignity. We must engage people’s hearts, call upon them to find their better selves, help them realize that we truly are all in this together. We need to engage the African-American and Latino communities in respectful, persuasive ways. This work takes time.

I can also tell you that, in these difficult economic times, many in our community are suffering mightily. Our state government has decimated HIV/AIDS programs, and our service providers are struggling to stay afloat and provide critical services. In these times, I think we must respect our large LGBT donors who are supporting that work and then all get behind a ballot fight once we have done the work we need to do.

Most importantly, we need to remember that we are all in this fight together. Too often, we turn our anger at one another instead of at those at whom we are truly upset. If we can treat one another with grace and respect, and do the hard work we must, I know that we will win our rights back, once and for all. After 40 years, this battle is coming to an end. It is within our grasp. Now let’s go out and seize it.


With great respect,

Rev. Troy Perry

UTF EXCLUSIVE: EQCA's Marc Solomon Talks About Juggling Plans for 2012 While Working With 2010 Supporters

Today, the Courage Campaign announced that it had raised enough money to take a first step towards a 2010 campaign. An hour later, Equality California (EQCA), the largest and most powerful California LGBT organization, announced that it was going to move forward and work towards a 2012 campaign.

Right now, the California LGBT population is experiencing whiplash and fears that these announcements will drive the wedge of division that already exists deeper into the heart of the community.

Courage Campaign has been steadfast in its support for 2010, and early on, so was EQCA, but with the latter's decision to now focus on a 38 month campaign, many are wondering what does this spell for the community's next steps? Will a consensus ever be reached?

Last weekend, those who would become the California Coalition for Marriage Equality held a Next Steps Working Meeting, and though it was billed as an inclusive meeting for all view points, it was a decidedly pro-2010 planning event with very few 2012 groups attending.

Unite the Fight spoke with EQCA's Marriage Director Marc Solomon, who attended the event. In a one-on-one interview in Marc's sparse office, I asked how EQCA was going to move forward in a community whose grassroots is charging ahead with or without his organization, especially in light of today's announcement and the release of "Winning Marriage Equality Back in California: Analysis and Plan," their pro-2012 road map.

“I don’t view this as the end of discussion and conversation," Marc said about the announcement right off the bat. "We promised the LGBT community that we would let them know what we think the wisest course of action is. It's our responsibility. That’s why we put something out today. But we’re not saying that it’s our way or the highway. We certainly can’t force anyone to adopt our position."

"We hope people read [the analysis] and use interactive sites like Unite the Fight and others to discuss it," he said. "I encourage everyone to read it and think about it."

I asked Marc what he hopes will come of the road map, and he spoke of the motivation behind its release.

"There are two things we wanted to do. One, we wanted to get the work started. We know there's work that needs to happen in moving people our way on marriage. Two, we wanted to do a lot of due diligence on what we think the smartest approach is for moving forward to overturn Prop 8.

"A lot of factors came into play. One that isn’t talked about a lot is moving people on this issue of marriage equality happens best in a cultural context, when people can let their guards down and really listen. In a political context, it’s a lot harder to do – it's a 'he said, she said' political battle. People put up their defenses in a political campaign, instead of realizing, 'Oh, I didn’t know this couple lived down the street from me.' Trying to condense this down to 14 months is really hard, in the midst of a political campaign, when there’s a lot of going back and forth."

It's safe to say that almost all of the community can agree that winning is about changing hearts and minds of voters, but no one is clear about how to unite the LGBT community to come to a consensus and to go out and do exactly what is needed to win.

I asked Marc about what he thinks needs to happen in order for this to come into fruition.

"One thing that is clear to me that Unite the Fight pointed out after [the summit in] San Bernardino, is how much hurt and pain there is in our community post Prop 8. And it sort of dawned on me, 'Oh my god, I get it.' All these people, including myself, are sort of wounded from this loss and we’re acting it out in lots and lots of different ways. I think we need to acknowledge that.

"When I first got out here, I thought, 'Of course we’re going back in 2010. We can’t wait.' And I heard people say, 'Well are you sure? Does that make sense?" From funders and more."

Marc paused. "And then I really started listening. I listened carefully. I think the people need to listen carefully to the POC LGBT groups who feel they are being steamrolled. I think they felt steamrolled when we first came out for 2010.

"There’s this feeling that when it’s convenient, that people will listen to what [the POC groups] have to say and when it’s not, they won’t. I think we all have to think about that. Think about what these communities went through after Prop 8 passed and the blaming of POC communities. I think it’s important that people listen to that perspective, that they're thinking 'Our communities got blamed for Prop 8.' And after, people said a lot of work will happen, and now the work hasn’t happened and we’re saying we’re going right back to the ballot. That’s an important perspective to keep into account."

Marc rebuffed the claim that those who support 2012 are wanting to "wait."

"We all want to win back marriage as quickly as humanly possible. The question is, 'Can we get it done by 2010 or not?'"

Marc then addressed the philosophy of returning to the ballot each election year until we win.

"We [EQCA] don’t believe we can go back to the ballot in [2010 and 2012] - it’s one or the other. If we lose, it will be very hard to go back to the ballot before 2014, 2016 or 2018. The thought of spending 150 million dollars three election cycles in a row is totally unrealistic.

"If you keep going back to the ballot over and over, you appear to the movable middle, to the people you need to persuade, as a zealot. Regular people will say, 'Oh my god, they’re back again. Haven’t we already decided this?' And we say, 'We’re fighting. We’re fighting to win.' But we have to think about who needs to come our way and who we need to move."

I then pushed Marc again about the practicalities of how we can all work together with a mobile grassroots coalition already moving forward on 2010, and the largest LGBT organization in California announcing it's for 2012, not to mention the vast array of organizations in the Prepare to Prevail coalition who also support 2012.

So I got to specifics. Will he or someone from Equality California attend the California Coalition for Marriage Equality convention in San Francisco, the objective of which will be to hammer out a campaign governing structure.

“I would like to be there. If not, Andrea Shorter, who is our Deputy Marriage Director and who lives up in San Francisco, will be."

I asked him if he, as a representative of EQCA, could help get the pro-2012 POC groups involved in planning the structure.

“First of all , I think they feel dissed. They weren’t engaged. I don’t blame them at all for sort of taking a step back. I think they feel they were disrespected.

"I'm brainstorming here. Maybe there should be a session where it isn’t a debate, but where they explain what it's like to work in the Latino community, what it’s like working in the African American community, and people really agree to listen instead of writing the position off. We have plenty to learn from groups who are working in communities of color. So I think how we’re going to pull together – we need to listen to each other more, respect each other more."

I pushed for more specifics about developing some sort of governing structure that will be flexible enough for any campaign year.

"For practicalities," he said, "There are a few different divides. There’s the 2010 vs. later divide. (As an aside, we’ve made very clear the we're not the “or later” position but the 2012 position. We are prepared to play an active role in a 38 month campaign to win back marriage.) There’s also a divide between grassroots and more established organizations, and I think that’s something we need to figure out. It’s complicated.

"One the one hand, I don’t think it makes sense for an unincorporated group to have the same vote as EQCA on something, or the same vote as the Courage Campaign or Marriage Equality USA. At the same time, we’ve all listened and heard loudly and clearly, that the grassroots voice needs to be an active voice."

Marc made it clear that they will not ignore the movement that is being made. "We’re taking all of this seriously. We’re engaging seriously everywhere with as many hours as there are in a day, we’re engaging. I believe in doing something in a united kind of way. With as many waking hours that I have, I will engage and I will talk. It’s important for me to be accessible.”

Will he support a 2010 signature campaign?

"Will I go out and urge people to go collect signatures? Probably not. But I respect people who are going to go out and collect signatures. And I really mean that. I wish we were all on the same page. That’s what I hope for."

“We are not going to get in anyone’s way of anything," Marc added. "And people who want to move forward in 2010 have every right to. Of course you can make an argument that by putting our point of view out there, we’re getting in their way. I don’t think that’s a fair point. I heard some point-of-views that if you’re not with the program, then just be quiet and don’t say what you think because otherwise you’re getting in the way. That’s not a definition of getting in the way that makes any sense.”

On the EQCA conference call with reporters and bloggers about the 2012 announcement, Rex Wockner pushed hard on Executive Director Geoff Kors and Marc Solomon, asking how they couldn't think it was going to be a PR disaster for EQCA to not support the grassroots. Kors responded he didn't see it that way at all. So I asked Marc, who works with and deals with the grassroots everyday, the same question.

“I think that we owe it to the community to let people know our best thinking," was his response. "And if we’re going to take some hits for it, it’s OK."

"Nobody likes to take hits," Marc quickly added. "I would feel a hell of a lot worse not saying what we really thought the smarter approach was. To lead our community in another direction just because we were concerned about the flak we would take - I couldn’t live with myself for doing that.”

So what if the California Coalition for Marriage Equality gets enough signatures for a 2010 ballot?

“If something is on the ballot, we are going to do what we can to help it succeed. If our rights are on the ballot, that’s our job. Even if we don’t think it’s the right time, it’s our job to fight for the LGBT community to help support it. We have committed to doing that work - the persuasion work. We have 18 full-time organizers across the state - the purpose of that work is to move voters our way. That work is valuable whenever there is an initiative on the ballot. The work on the ground is not out of sync.”

But is it in sync?

“We all need to talk about how this works," he responded. "We just put something out there [their road map]. We want to engage in conversation now."

Marc delved into what he thinks EQCA's role could be in the upcoming days, working with those who support 2010.

"[EQCA]'s work moving forward is going to be persuasion work at the door for marriage equality. We think community wide, working with our coalition partners, we need to do some messaging work to see what will move specific demographic voters our way. That’s what we need to do together. Every consultant I’ve talked to has said you need to have more consistent messages when it comes to marriage equality. Our opponents are really disciplined that way. I think having knowledge of what’s most effective will be helpful."

Will EQCA encourage its donors to give to a qualifying 2010 campaign?

"If our rights are going to be on the ballot, we will do everything we can to succeed," Marc firmly stated. "Everything we can. We really do think we only get one shot at this in 6-8 years. And if the community decides this [2010] is the shot we want, then we’ll support it. We will absolutely encourage donors, staff, everybody."

I asked him for a response to Courage Campaign's membership raising over $100,000 before its given deadline. Did he see that as an encouraging sign for 2010? Though he applauded the amazing feat and enthusiasm behind the money raised, he said -

“We need to raise $700,000 a week until next November to go in 2010."

Marc thought for a moment. "It’s been said [in the community], 'All we have to do is get the signatures and then EQCA will open the spigots and the money will flow.' No, that’s not what’s going to happen. All you have to do is look what’s going on in Maine right now. The last reporting showed our opponents were out-raising our side more than 2-to-1.”

But now that Courage Campaign and Marriage Equality USA are near their fundraising goal for ballot language research, will EQCA kick in support some way?

“We said we will help Courage Campaign and Marriage Equality USA and others to come up with campaign messaging. We will help with ballot language too with respect to wording. If someone is going to introduce ballot language, we want to be best. The school’s curriculum discussion – someone has to figure that one out.”

Marc continued, “We want to be sure it’s the smartest best ballot language we can put forward. I do think the messaging piece is also very important. We’re going to need good, crisp messaging. We’re going to need to know what our best case is to present to the voters. The piece that makes sense for us right now is general message. Let’s explore if we can do that together because I think it can be.”

Marc wanted to conclude by reiterating that he wants to work with everybody. Just because he may not agree about when to return to the ballot, doesn't mean he'll now disappear. He also expressed his excitement about what is happening.

"I’ll truly listen to everybody. I think one of the most exciting things about being in California right now is all this new energy and new groups," he said. "I think it’s so exciting, being an activist working on this issue 8 years now. It’s such an incredible moment. The perspectives from One Struggle, One Fight and Equal Roots and a whole slew of others is really neat and good, and I have plenty to learn from people who are inspired post Prop 8.

"For the first time in California and in the country, our community isn’t playing defense. From the Briggs Initiative to Prop 22 to Prop 8, our opponents picked the election they thought was best for them and they moved forward with a plan to do it. This time we get to choose when we think we can put or best effort forward."

Marc added one finishing thought.

"One thing I would ask people to do is give a good, close read to what we’ve put out there," he said, referring to their "Analysis and Plan" for 2012. "And if they have questions, send them to me and let’s discuss them.”

Equality California will continue soliciting feedback from community members and will hold a virtual town hall via livestream moderated by Bay Area Reporter Editor Cynthia Laird on Thursday, August 13, from 5 to 7 p.m. PDT. To join the town hall, visit www.livestream.com/equalitycalifornia at that time.

Equality California Announces Support for 2012 Ballot Initiative to Win Marriage Equality Back in California

UPDATE 2: Log Cabin Republicans respond to EQCA's announcement.

UPDATE: EQCA's Marriage Equality Director Marc Solomon posts on their blog.

Related news: San Francisco Gate reports that Mayor and California gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom, is "not convinced" challenge to Prop. 8 will succeed in 2010.

LIVE BLOGGING ENDED.

In a conference call with reporters and bloggers (which is still going - live blogging here!), Equality California's Executive Director Geoff Kors and Marriage Equality Director Marc Solomon announce the organization's support for a marriage equality ballot initiative in 2012.

Marc Solomon stated that they considered four different options when making their decision.

• Return every two years until we prevail.
• Wait until we know we can win.
• Use November 2010 as deadline and engage 14 month campaign.
  
• Use November 2012 deadline and a 38 month campaign.
  

Some of the reasons cited for their decision to support 2012:

• 30 month campaign gives time to launch an educational campaign
• 60% of those younger than 30 are solid supporters for marriage equality. Those who are 16 or 17 now will be able to vote in 2012, shifting the demographics in our favor.
• Major donors are more interesting in supporting a 2012 campaign and not interested in contributing to a 60 million dollar 2010 campaign.
  

When asked about Courage Campaign's announcement today that they will move forward with a 2010 ballot initiative since they have raised enough money for ballot language testing, Geoff Kors said, "It’s great to see that they’re moving forward with research."

He said they reached out to support research and would like to see many LGBT organization, including allied organizations, coordinate their efforts in regards to research.

In regards to timing, he said, "If people want to move forward with 2010, they’re welcome to. It's a democracy . . . if something qualifies, we will support it . . . This is our view that we’re sharing."

Addressing the momentum for 2010, Kors said if we lost, we don't have the resources the keep returning to the ballot every two years.

Solomon said, "I wouldn't feel comfortable leading people down that path." He went on to say he felt more confidence in a 38 month campaign in which he could do more one-on-one work with organizations and volunteers so that they could win more voters with a strategic plan.

"We support committing our energy, resources and leadership (for) the November 2012 election," he said. "The work is slow-going but doable." He added, "Donors want to make sure their investments to win back marriage are wisely invested. Monolithically, they are not supportive of returning to the ballots right now."

Recently, Steve Hildebrand said that if he had listened to the pollsters and the pundits who were saying Obama would never be in the Oval office, he would never have committed two years of his life to helping being Obama's Deputy National Campaign Manager. With that in mind, he asked a group of marriage equality activists this past weekend, with 47% in support for marriage equality in California, what are they waiting for?

When asked about this quote, Marc Solomon said that a social issue campaign is completely different from a candidate campaign and that it must be handled and approached differently.

Reporter Rex Wockner pushed Kors and Solomon, asking how they could stand by and watch the many grassroots activists work hard for 2010, saying that it would be a PR disaster. Kors was adamant that he didn't see it that way and that they do support any effort to bring marriage equality back to California.

Kors announced that EQCA will be donating to the NO on 1 campaign in Maine and asking its members to do the same. They will also be urging volunteers to go to Maine in October for the last stretch of the campaign. "Having our rights taken away in a second state ... would really be harmful to the movement."

Below is the just released Equality California road map and time line to winning marriage equality back in California.

Equality California Winning Marriage Back Plan

A one-on-one interview with Marc Solomon to come very soon.

Equality California will continue soliciting feedback from community members and will hold a virtual town hall via livestream moderated by Bay Area Reporter Editor Cynthia Laird on Thursday, August 13, from 5 to 7 p.m. PDT. To join the town hall, visit www.livestream.com/equalitycalifornia at that time.

Courage Campaign States 60 Hours Are Left for a 2010 Fundraising Benchmark - Over Half of Goal Raised

An update titled "60 hours left to decide Prop 8's fate" was released today from the Courage Campaign on its goal to raise $100,000 by August 13 in order to test ballot language for a 2010 campaign.

Over the weekend, the call for repealing Prop 8 in 2010 grew louder in the grassroots. At the request of the Courage Campaign, Steve Hildebrand -- former deputy campaign manager for Barack Obama's presidential campaign -- spoke to a large gathering of marriage equality activists on Sunday in Los Angeles and said the following:

"I'd rather have your odds than the odds we had with the Obama campaign. Think about that... This community has to show the kind of courage that it has if you're going to go in 2010... If you go in 2010 -- and my outside perspective is that you should -- you've got to go in with all guns blazing."

Since we sent you the urgent message below, 1,027 members of the Courage Campaign community have raised $58,033 -- an average of $56.51 per person. And other grassroots organizations like Marriage Equality USA and Meet in the Middle have joined us as well, challenging their members to step up and help finance the research necessary to place an initiative on the 2010 ballot.

If 1,000 more people can raise $41,967 by August 13, we will meet the time-sensitive $100,000 goal we set for the Courage Campaign community -- and half of the $200,000 needed to launch this mission-critical research as soon as possible.

We have less than 60 hours to raise $41,967 from Courage members. Will you help us get over the top by donating whatever amount you can afford -- $25, $50, $100, $500 or more -- by 11:59 p.m. on Thursday? Please make a contribution before time runs out.

Many are keeping a sharp eye on the LGBT community's ability to raise funds for this first step towards a 2010 campaign. EQCA is expected to announce tomorrow its roadmap and timeline to bring marriage equality back to California, and it is expected that they will support a 2012 campaign.

Unite the Fight will continue to report on both Courage Campaign's progress as well as have a full report on EQCA's timeline tomorrow.

Agenda for Next Steps Summit Released

The logistics team for the August 9th Next Steps Summit, a working meeting in Los Angeles that will tackle actual next steps for an upcoming ballot initiative to undo Proposition 8, has released an agenda in advance. It is subject to change.

I. 9:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.: Sign-in, Coffee-fueled Meet & Mingle
II. 10:00 a.m. to 10:20 a.m.: Introduction and Overview of Goals
III. 10:20 a.m. to 10:55 a.m.: Keys to a Successful Signature Gathering Campaign

1. 10:20 a.m. to 10:40 a.m.: Brief Presentation
2. 10:40 a.m. to 10:55 a.m.: Questions and Answers

IV. 10:55 a.m. to 12:05 p.m.: First Working Group Session

1. Choosing the Language of the Ballot Initiative
2. Media and Messaging During the Signature Campaign
3. Outreach to People of Color (POC) Communities During the Signature Campaign
4. Partnering with Non-LGBT People and Organizations in the Signature Campaign
5. Role of Visibility Events During the Signature Campaign
6. Any Other Groups (Self-Chosen)
   

V. 12:05 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.: Working Lunch

1. 12:05 p.m. to 12:25 p.m.: Get Food and Commence Eating
2. 12:25 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.: Small Groups Report to Entire Group
   

VI. 1:00 p.m. to 1:55 p.m.: "What It Takes To Win"

1. 1:00 p.m. to 1:07 p.m.: Introduction by Rick Jacobs
2. 1:07 p.m. to 1:37 p.m.: Presentation by Steve Hildebrand
3. 1:37 p.m. to 1:55 p.m.: Questions and Answers

VII. 1:55 p.m. to 3:05 p.m.: Second Working Group Session

1. Fundraising for the Signature Gathering Campaign
2. Identifying and Creating Signature Gathering Events and Locations
3. Recruiting, Organizing and Training Signature Gatherers Statewide
4. Outreach to Religious Communities During the Signature Campaign
5. Administering the Signature Campaign
6. Any Other Groups (Self-Chosen)
   

VII. 3:05 p.m. to 3:20 p.m.: Seventh Inning Stretch (Break)
IX. 3:20 p.m. to 3:55 p.m.: Small Groups Report to Entire Group
X. 3:55 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.: Closing Remarks
XI. 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.: Happy Hour (Networking) (Optional)

Courage Campaign Gives the Community a Challenging Fundraising Benchmark for a 2010 Ballot Initiative - You Game?

Today, Courage Campaign founder Rick Jacobs sent out a memo titled "2010: It's Time to Make a Decision." In it, he reminds the Californian LGBT community that the organization's 700,000 plus membership overwhelmingly voted to return to the ballot to repeal Prop 8 in 2010.

Now, it's up to this same membership and the surrounding community to make it a reality. Rick gives a fundraising benchmark that must be reached in order to proceed to the ballot in 2010. The money will be used to test ballot language, an extremely essential necessity for a successful campaign. If the challenging benchmark is not met, he says that we will have to work for 2012.

So what exactly is the benchmark? What's the challenge that the community needs to take on? Here's the memo in full:

I write to you today with urgency and seriousness. After months of discussion and debate, the time has come to make the tough decision.

In May, 83% of Courage Campaign members said that our organization should work with our partners to place a marriage equality initiative on the ballot in 2010. If the Courage Campaign and our allies in the movement want to initiate the repeal of Prop 8 in 2010, we must make that decision very soon.

Frankly, too much attention has been placed on the political consequences of running an election in 2010 or 2012. The bottom line is that we must begin now to convince the people of California that civil marriage rights should be made available to all people, period. None of us should have to wait one more day to achieve equality at any level.

And while I say that, I also don't want to lose this critical battle. Going to the ballot in 2010 is a decision that obviously comes with potential consequences.

Our members told us to help build the movement, so over the last several months, the Courage Campaign has mobilized 44 grassroots Equality Teams in 23 counties across California. And we've held five Camp Courage trainings in communities from the coast to the Central Valley to train people to be successful organizers. Last weekend alone, 279 activists gathered in East L.A. at the most diverse Camp Courage yet, with tremendous support from the Latino and Asian Pacific Islander communities.

We've also been working with some of the smartest, most experienced campaign professionals in America -- people who ran Barack Obama's campaign, who know California and who can help our movement chart a course to victory. They've given us tough love, great advice and helped us outline the steps necessary to a successful outcome. This team isn't telling us when to initiate the repeal of Prop 8, but they are telling us we need to start now with a persuasion campaign designed to win the hearts and minds of California voters -- no matter which election year we wage the battle.

The Courage Campaign will support a repeal of Prop 8 in 2010 if our members -- together with other major stakeholders involved in this movement -- make a strong commitment to this campaign.

I want to be clear that no one organization can dominate what will need to be an independent, but accountable campaign operation. The Courage Campaign will aggressively support the effort, not run it. A small governing structure should oversee the day-to-day operations -- giving an experienced campaign manager the latitude necessary to make smart, strategic and timely decisions. If a campaign for 2010 materializes, the governing structure should include those who did not necessarily support going to the ballot in 2010, but are necessary and fundamental partners to any campaign to win back marriage equality.

To win, we will need to run a smarter, stronger and more disciplined campaign. The first step in running a winning campaign is to ensure we use the most effective initiative language that a majority of California voters will support. This takes research - expert polling and focus group work that will help us gain the best understanding of the California electorate. And we must begin that research immediately.

Along with our allies, we need to raise $200,000 to conduct this research -- and we don't have much time to raise it. If the Courage Campaign can raise $100,000 and our partners and allies in the movement can raise another $100,000 -- for a total of $200,000 -- we can put the research effort in place and meet the late September deadline recommended by the Secretary of State for filing an initiative for 2010.

We are prepared to ask our members to raise $100,000 to meet our commitment to this goal. We are willing to ask the Courage Campaign community to make this commitment because they expressed their support for going to the ballot in 2010 by such an overwhelming margin.

If we can make this community fundraising goal, we can move forward. If we can't make this community fundraising goal, then we will have to accept that the movement is not ready to produce the funding and resources necessary to support a campaign to repeal Prop 8 in 2010. And we will have to wait until 2012 to bring marriage equality to the ballot again.

Our people-powered organization is ready to win, but we are faced with the reality of these deadlines. If we want to convince a majority of our fellow Californians to support full civil marriage rights in 2010, the marriage equality movement has to stand up and commit to the cause now.

Together.

Now this is something tangible that the community can get behind.

Part of the sound and valid objections to returning to the ballot in 2010 is that the economy will make fundraising extremely difficult and that donations will dry up. If the community can meet the goal of raising $100,000 through Courage Campaign, and $200,000 as a whole, then this could be a sign that the unity and commitment that is needed to win may just be growing.

Of course, so much more work and fundraising will still need to be completed. Courage Campaign's Sarah Callahan told Unite the Fight each volunteer would need to work 20 hours a week for the last 12 weeks of the campaign if we were to move forward in 2010 (and that's not counting all the other months.)

That's everyday folks willingly stepping up to take up the task, giving up pay from their day jobs, and time for themselves, friends and family among many other sacrifices. A 2010 ballot will demand the continual unity, hard work and commitment from the community in order for it to pass.

More benchmarks will need to be set in order to gauge the progress. This will be a subject addressed at this Sunday's Next Steps Summit, a working meeting at which Courage Campaign is participating.

Rick Jacobs told Unite the Fight that if this fundraising benchmark is not met, then "the money that is raised will be used towards the continued work of repealing Proposition 8."

So, it's a win-win situation. An email will be sent out to all members tomorrow with a link to the donation page.

You game?

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

Obama's Deputy Campaign Manager to Attend Sunday's "Next Steps Summit"; Tentative Agenda Released

"We are not Frankenstein, lurching toward the finish line no matter what," Jordan Krueger of Equality Network and of the Next Steps Summit logistics team told Unite the Fight.

The Coalition for 2010 (formerly known as the Coalition of the Willing) will be hosting a Next Steps Summit August 9 in South Los Angeles, where they hope action items will be confirmed in order to move the California LGBT population forward in getting an initiative on the ballot to end Prop 8's rule.

On Saturday it was confirmed that Obama's national deputy campaign manager, openly gay Steve Hildrebrand, will appear and inform the process at the summit. Hildebrand's extensive knowledge and key role in the largest and most successful grassroots campaign in our nation's history, will add an element of expertise not easily ignored by either side of the 2010 or 2012 debate. The number of attendees on both sides of the issue are likely to increase, especially given Hildebrand's appearance and that this summit's focus will be action points and "deliverables."

However, many in the community are still concerned about the coalition's focus on 2010 and how that may skew the summit. "We want everyone there. We need to hear their concerns," Jordan responded. "There's only so much we can do if they're not willing to attend."

I asked about the agenda since many are still not clear on what will happen at the summit. Jordan gave me a tentative agenda that he says was 90% confirmed. A final agenda will be released early this week.

AGENDA

Morning: Key notes and panel discussion, including Steve Hildebrand, Obama's deputy national campaign manager. Q&A session. (This will last about an hour and fifteen minutes. I don't have time breakdowns for the rest.)

Breakout Sessions (Subject to change, and this does not reflect all sessions but just a few.)

• Signature gathering
• Ballot language
• Fund-raising
• Outreach and Relationship Building
• Messaging
  

Attendees can call out ad hoc sessions if need comes up. Groups will come back and report on decisions and next steps to all.

WORKING LUNCH

Second breakout for sessions, but these will be different from first break out.

Report back again with decisions and next steps.

Closing

Happy Hour

After going over the agenda with Jordan, I raised concerns about certain topics being discussed and next steps decided upon in break out sessions, such as the ballot language and messaging, which requires lots of expertise and knowledge of the political campaign process, assets many in the community lack, including yours truly.

"It's our desire to have experts in the break out groups, but they will not facilitate," Jordan said. "Let's all come to a consensus together instead of having the experts say this is how it should be."

When it comes to ballot language, objections have been raised. If the language isn't legally solid, it can open the door to many lawsuits from the opposition trying to undo any initiative that we work really hard to pass.

At the Leadership Summit in San Bernardino, it was requested that all cameras be turned off and that the press either leave or consider the conversation "off the record" when the topic of ballot language came up. That's how sensitive and essential ballot language can be. Give the opposition any hints on what you come up with and you give them immediate ammunition to undo your work. On top of that, the specifics of whether or not to include the issue of school curriculum in regards to marriage equality is a gray area for many in the community.

"Everyone is in agreement that there has to be testing" of ballot language, Jordan said. "There is an understanding of significant cost to testing and that will be brought up for discussion at the summit. We understand it is critical to going back to the ballot."

According to the organizers, tickets are going fast, and it will be interesting to see who shows given that the Next Steps Summit has been viewed as vital yet possibly premature given that the community has not come to a consensus on timing.

Even Torie Osborne, who in May came out strong for 2010 at a Courage Campaign's Camp Courage, told reporter Karen Ocamb she's changed her mind.

“As time ticks by, it seems less likely that we will go to the ballot in 2010 and I'm fine with that,” Osborn wrote in an email to Karen Ocamb for a Frontiers in L.A. article. “The vision and movement that is built is as important as when we win, as the state's challenges require us to all step up in new and powerful ways. If ‘Spawn of Prop187’ [a previous anti-immigrant initiative] qualifies in 2010, that can become our unified battle, and we will all need to join together and lay in place the organizing networks that can lead us to victory in future years on marriage equality.”

However, Courage Campaign's Rick Jacobs has reiterated his support for 2010. “Our members are ready to do the hard work needed to win.”

Equality California's Geoff Korrs announced at the Equality Awards Dinner on Saturday night that the organization will come to a decision on next steps this week after its board meeting Sunday, a statement that Marc Solomon, EQCA's Marriage Director confirmed with Unite the Fight at the event. Many believe though the organization should listen to its members, who were polled with a majority supporting 2010. There's also been talk that EQCA's board is divided on the issue.

The Coalition for 2010 has shifted its tone since the day of the San Bernardino summit. They express a desire for all to be involved, even those who don't agree with them on timing. Their focus is to get the work started, and get it done as soon and as efficiently as possible.

In an email sent out to its members Sunday, Love Honor Cherish, the grassroots group who has strongly supported 2010 since Prop 8's passing, wrote, "Everyone dedicated to working for marriage equality is invited, particularly those who have expressed reservations about a 2010 campaign. These concerns are legitimate and important, and any planning for a future campaign must take them into account to ensure our chances of winning."

"We want people to be there to give input on benchmarks," Jordan told Unite the Fight, saying that those who support 2012 will bring vital input to the process. "This is not a sit and listen summit."

"There is an awareness," he added. "If 2010 turns out not to be possible, then based on benchmarks set on August 9th, we will consider how to proceed."

If those in support for 2012 want input on those benchmarks, then I highly recommend you attend.

Get information and tickets.

(Note: Unite the Fight, along with the organizers, is looking into streaming this event if possible based upon technical capabilities as well as sensitive information discussed at the summit.)

Image: By BlueCinema

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!)