thomascwaters.com

I friend sent me the link below- I’m guessing as a follow-up to my post yesterday. I wanted to pass it along. I started to write this blog post about it, and then realized after 500 words, that what I really was writing was my State of the Blog post. I promise to tie the two things together by the end.

I have to admit, I have really been in a funk recently. While I was not extremely active in the last presidential campaign, I did some work to get Obama elected. I was not a Hillary fan. I expected that if Hillary was the candidate, she may not be electable, given how much conservative Hilary hating there was out there, and I wasn’t sure if she would be much different than Bill Clinton, who got elected for the right reasons, and then blew it in the White House (poor choice of words maybe). Clinton was the start of the deregulation of Wall Street and the changes to the Banking industry that set up  the recent financial collapse.

I not so sure if Hillary would be in any better place right now. Obama did bring so many Clinton types into his administration. But I did expect him to follow through on his promises and to be smarter than he has been. But, I do think it is time to start considering who to support for a Democratic competitor for the 2012 election.

And, while I have no trouble pointing a finger at Obama, he alone isn’t the problem. The Democratic leadership in both the House and the Senate are incompetent, while the democratic caucus seems utterly clueless. and one of my biggest worries is the recent Supreme Court decision about corporations and Free Speech. Imagine: if the group, focus on the Family (which is supposed to care about families?) will lay off hundreds of workers who need a salary to support their own families, but they will buy advertising for the Super Bowl- I can imagine how much more various groups and corporations will pour into politics to buy the elections of far right conservatives who will work to take away what few rights GLBTQ’s have now.

And, I’m doing much work around the issue of issue advocacy. I started working on a book; I’m now on the board of the Delta Foundation, and leading the development of a Western Pennsylvania GLBTQ Issue Advocacy initiative; I’m still writing this blog and posting the 2 Minute Activist to YouTube. But much of this (especially writing for the book, and writing for the blog, has become excruciatingly hard., I think partly because I am not sure how we continue to make progress on GLBTQ issues while our political system is so utterly broken.

I couldn’t watch the President last night. I knew that I was already so angry that it would just infuriate me more . But as he laid out his assessment of where we are and plans to move forward, I’m doing the same.

More than 100 students, faculty and community members walked onto Notre Dame’s campus Wednesday to protest the university’s anti-discrimination policy and to push for a gay-straight alliance group.

There is an alternative to being so enraged at the Democratic Party, and our broken government. Get involved. Not involved in the simple, get out and vote way, but really engaged at giving voice to your needs and demands. Like the protesters at Notre Dame did, demanding a GSA. One of the things I liked about this action was the non-political aspect of it. Our political system isn’t working for gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans, and queers. We can’t give up on it entirely- we must stay engaged and work for change within it. but we also need to seek out other avenues for change. I’ll write more about this idea in another blog post where I can focus on it alone.

Get involved also means that we must deal with the politicians that we have, even if they seem utterly useless (so many of the democrats) or hostile (so many of the republicans). We have to “protest” them in ways that will make a difference. Marches and big protests are not always very effective at causing real change. They are good to build enthusiasm among supporters, and they work, like this blog: as a way to articulate ideas to an audience. But they can be hard to organize, and can be dismissed by the people who really need to hear those ideas. Another way to “protest” our elected officials is to talk with them. To sit down, face to face, and have a dialogue about the issues that are most important to you the constituent. I’ll devote a blog entry to this idea too.

via Group protests Notre Dame’s “anti-gay” policies.

So, I’ll answer my own question before I write much so as not to suggest the wrong tone to this post. Yes, I think it can, but to do so, I think we have to really understand what is going on.

I have 3 or 4 drafts of blog posts that all deal with what is going on surrounding the Health Care battle. all are posts started, and then left to be finished later. I always get to this point where I’m looking for a larger, more general “umbrella understanding” of what is going on, and I wonder if I need to write that post first or after, or pull all of these ideas together or what. And then they sit there, all as unfinished drafts. So, today, I have some time, and let’s see if I can get some of tis stuff out of the drafts area and out there for others to read and comment on.

The video clip is Katy Abram who is now “famous” for asking Arlen Specter what he was going to do to return the country to the one left by our founders and the Constitution. Later on Hardball, she was interviewed and comes of, in my opinion, as someone unwilling to stand behind her own words. She doesn’t want socialized medicine, yet she wouldn’t call for the repeal of our current programs are that just that. She stands as an example of the type of hyperbole sound bite that is meant to inflame people, but hasn’t much reality underneath it. It would be easy to dismiss it there for, but we need not do that. This tendency to say something but fail to grasp or own the reality of what you are calling for is  real threat to any  sense of real dialogue.

My favorite line was when he asked her if her family would be in the “over $250,000 a year” group that will be taxed more,and she had no idea. Her husband handles all of that kind of thing.

YouTube – “Hardball”: Katy Abram Told Medicare Is “Successful Socialism”.

Rep Kratovil Hung in Effigy

This refusal to want to dialogue, but rather throw out sound bites isn’t as bad as some of the other things occurring. Most scary was… This is where I get stopped. Any number of things are “the most scary” and all of a sudden, I am feeling fairly overwhelmed by it all.

But definitely very high on the scary list, was Rep. Kratovil being hung in effigy by a town hall protestor.  ILook at the smiling face of the protestor. Amazing. the definition of “hang in effigy is “a portrait, statue, or the like, esp. of a person;  likeness; often, a crude representation of a despised person or protesting, as against that person’s policies.” He is a freshman representative. All he did was vote for a bill and he is despised and his policies hated?

The easiest answer to the question, “what is going on here” seems to be that some people are doing everything in their power to stop the Health Care debate, but I think it is far more than that. But exactly what, I don’t know. What do you think?

UPDATE:

As confirmed by the comment added to the blog post below, the date of the decision has not been released. The Queerty article appears to be incorrect.

Looks as if the CA Supreme Court ruling may be announced next Monday, April 20th.

Proposition 8 ‘Day of Decision’ Set, We Think / Queerty.

Found this on Joe.My.God, and usually, I’d not post it, but decided to for a few reasons. 1) This is just a bunch of Frat boys, and so this can easily be dismissed. But that’s the point. The westboro baptist church message is simply being dismissed, It can be easy to find their type of rhetoric hurtful, when it reality, perhaps it is all just silly and can be easily dismissed. 2) Notice how so many of the Westboro church members have their faces totally covered.

Joe. My. God.: ? ? ? vs. Westboro Baptist Church.

Last week, I wrote about how to contact your elected official, and the role of email , the phone and personal letters.  This week, I want to offer you a step by step guide to lobbying your elected official.  This may seem like a big step up from a phone call or a letter, but can be a very persuasive way to get your voice heard and influence your elected officials. This list is mostly geared towards working with your Pennsylvania State Senator or Representative, but the basics are the same for working with local or national officials as well.

 There are a few reasons why people often don’t feel comfortable or capable of doing this kind of work.  I’ll say more about that tomorrow.

 How to lobby your elected official

1)   Find out who is your elected official?

It is possibly to lobby/ do advocacy work with elected officials at every level of government. Here is a web page that will help you locate your national and PA senator and your representative:  http://eqfed.org/center4civilrights/leg-lookup/search.tcl?domain=center4civilrights&preview_p=1

2) Call and make an appointment.

State officials are generally in Harrisburg from Monday to Wednesday and then back in their districts on Thursday and Friday.  You can schedule to meet with them either place.  Call their office and say that you would like to schedule time to meet with [your legislator's name] and that the purpose of the meeting is to discuss [name of upcoming legislation or issue].

 The typical response to an appointment request, may be that you are welcome to drop off information. This is understandable because your elected officials are truly very busy. However, it is your right, as a citizen, to express your views to government people so clarify- you understand your elected official is busy, but you would prefer a meeting if possible.  Ask to meet with their aide if the official is unavailable.  Meeting with an aide may be very productive and they work hard to convey key aspects of issues. The aides have typically listened very closely, asked key questions and can be counted on to convey your concerns.  So, if you can’t get a meeting with your elected official, getting one with the aide is very good. Sometimes you just need to be persistent, and remember that your voice is extremely important and valuable!

 3) Prepare for the meeting.

This is extremely important. Your elected official or his/her aide is a very busy person, and so you want to use whatever time you get as well as possible.

a) Know what you want to say. Go over the talking points for the issue. Think about your personal story- what can you share about how this issue or legislation will affect you, your loved ones and your community. Practice, practice and practice! It isn’t essential to be able to recite word for word what you want to say, but it is important that you can speak clearly and comfortably using a brief amount of time wisely.

 b) Research your elected official! Look for any personal connection that can be an icebreaker for your conversation. Maybe your children attend the same school, or you notice a picture on the wall you like.  Don’t just jump right into the conversation-build a relationship first!

 c) Prepare an information packet to leave with the official. Use this packet to provide additional information about the issue or legislation so that the official has some reference material to return to at a later point. You do not need to create this from scratch- use prepared items wherever possible. Include in the research packet, a contact list, including your information, as well as local, regional, state and national organizations that can provide more information to your elected official.

 d) Plan on who will be a part of your scheduled meeting. Take along a friend, family member, or anyone who can help add to the value of the meeting with your official.

4) Arrive on the early side, and be prepared to be flexible for the meeting. Your legislator’s time is very limited, and s/he has staff people who play a critical role in keeping the official on top of all the current issues and legislation.

a) Your meeting will most likely include at least 1 aide. This is a good thing! The more you can develop a working relationship with the staff of the official, the better. If due to a problem, the official is not able to meet with you, meet with the staff person alone. That may be the best use of everyone’s time.

b) Remember that everyone in the room wants the same thing- what is best for “the State” and the constituents of the state. Your role is to assist the elected official and his/her staff to understand how the issue or legislation will accomplish that shared goal.

c) Be flexible, personable, and conversational, but at the same time, remember this is a business meeting.  You are there to learn more about your elected official, and help him or her learn more about your issue or legislation.

d) Be prepared to answer questions and help the elected official or staff person learn more about the issue or topic. Your meeting helps place this issue or topic into the context of real people and real life.  If you are asked something you don’t know the answer to, tell them, you do not know but that you will find out and get back to them with the answer.

e) Don’t be afraid to ask directly “would you be willing to vote for this legislation or perhaps even be a cosponsor?”   If they say no or seem reluctant, respectfully ask them very clearly to help you to understand their current views on the issue impacting their reluctance.  That gives you a step for further future dialogue, a chance to clear up any misconceptions. If you are working with a state or national organization, this is valuable information to pass along so that the organization knows where legislators are standing on the issue. 

 f) Ask for business cards of all the people who participated in the meeting, to assist you in being able to contact them again.

 5) Follow up after the meeting. Within a day or so, drop a thank you note to everyone you met with in the meeting. In the note, thank them, highlight your main points from the meeting, and use the correspondence to help build a good working relationship with the person. If there were any questions asked and you offered to follow up with more information, you can put that in with your thank you note. Let the official know that you would like to schedule a follow up meeting in the future. Close you note offering to help the elected official if they need any further information from you about this issue or legislation.

 6) Continue to develop an ongoing relationship with your elected official.  This person is there to represent you and your neighbors as well as the residents of the state. You take steps to improve life for everyone by giving voice to your ideas and opinions while at the same time, respecting diverse viewpoints. Change sometimes comes quickly, sometimes slowly. Even if it looks like you will never be on the same side of an issue. Hang in there, be respectful, and build a working relationship so that the door is open for a free exchange of information and ideas.

 Links:

http://equalitypa.org

http://www.heartsandminds.org/articles/lobby.htm

www.ecdet.org/Lobbyingprintable.doc

http://www.amnestyusa.org/get-activist-toolkit/plan-events-and-activities/how-to-lobby-your-member-of-congress/page.do?id=1101320

http://www.lavidalocavore.org/showDiary.do?diaryId=549

http://www.lwvwa.org/pubs/how_lobby_your_leg.html

http://www.skepticfiles.org/aclu/how_to.htm

www.nteu274.org/word%20documents/how%20to%20lobby%20Congress.Doc

http://www.yawp.com/ican/action/lobbyhowto.shtml

Marriage Equality Rally San Francisco

Marriage Equality as a rallying cry within the GLBTQ communities.

A few days ago, I began this series of posts examining, or wishing to prompt examination of the seemingly new push for marriage equality, and equating it in some ways to how AIDS has changed queer culture.  What’s up with that? Just as AIDS activism became a primary rallying cry and identity creator for the GLBTQ community in the late 80’s and 90’s, is Marriage Equality doing the same today?

Join the Impact

Following the passage of Proposition 8 in California, there was a grassroots swell of activism and activity.  The passage, interpreted by most as the defeat of anti-prop 8 took away the right for same sex couples to get married in California.  This was significant, because while there have been other initiatives in other states to keep same sex couples from gaining the right to marry, this was the first instance of having that right removed .  The largest organizing effort that grew out of this was Join the Impact. Join the Impact is in many ways like an up-to-date MoveOn.org, but with a better grasp of social networks, a more limited focus,  and without the “top down” organizing.

I first heard of Join the Impact from Twitter, and news of Impact rallies were on Facebook. I blogged about my experience of the first Impact rally . And another round of events are happening January 10th. But a rebirth of activism isn’t only happening under the “Impact” umbrella.

 San Diego Equality Campaign (SDEC) and the San Diego Alliance for Marriage Equality (SAME). Locally, the StoneWall Democrats are acting with renewed vigor. And this trend can be found in cities large and small across the country.

Role of social media as a new organizing strategy

It should come as no surprise that social media is playing a major role as not only a communication mechanism, but as an organizing strategy.  For example, a Facebook group, MILK!, is the location of efforts  to both raise awareness, and promote individual action surrounding the Marriage Equality issue.  Group members are invited to talk to family and friends about the issue, and provided with talking points as well as encouragement. The group has over 1100 members with a primnary focus to capture the energy of reaction and inspiration of the film to make new ground for GLBT liberty.

In November, there was word that Fred Phelps (Godhatesfags.com) was to be in Pittsburgh protesting at a funeral and against a number of things.  My partner decided to create a Facebook group and within a few days, it had 70 members, and the group continues to grow even now. No other work was done except we asked friends to ask their friends to join, and I wrote about it on Twitter.  We had a counter-protest to Phelp’s protest, and even though it was a weekday morning, we had 60-80 people in attendance!

We Need a Cause!

I think that GLBT people often need a cause behind which to rally to get motivated, and organized.  In so many ways we are like other marginalized minorities and groups, but there are ways in which we are not at all like them.  Fro example, African American’s as a minority- there is no real hiding they are black.  Same for Women- there is little hiding that which identifies them, their gender. GLBT people hide all the time!  For the most part, we can easily just blend in to culture at large.  We can work and be productive citizens, and never have to let anyone know our identity as GLBT people.  This ability to pass can provide some with an excuse to just go with the status quo instead of demanding equality.

AIDS provided such a cause to us, and in that case it was our lives and the lives of our loved ones that we were fighting for, as we fought against homophobia, predudice and bigotry.

Marriage Equality seems today, to be functioning similarly as a point of focus.  This right may not seem as dramatic as life itself, but it is possibly the ultimate level of cultural acceptance.  It is the aknowledgement  by the greater culture that our family building- our ties of commitment are as meaningful as heterosexual ones.

California and  MILK

I think two other factors are also playing a role.  That Prop 8 in California took away rights was a single concrete event which demonstrates the level of bigotry we are facing.  The amount of money thatr was spent to pass Prop 8, even from peple outside of California, demonstrates that even “local” government is a toll of bigotry used by institutions of intolerance. But also, the timing of the film MILK!, has played a role by giving Harvey Milk, a voice to rouse the crowd.  Harvey wants to recruit us, and we are ready to be recruited!

Is the Issue Equality or Marriage Equality?

On the other side of the coin are calls to see the bigger picture and not to let Marriage Equality become an all consuming motivator.  I have been vocal in my concerns about how this issue can eclipse other others GLBTQ people need such as protection from discrimination in house, employment, and accommodations, but others are voicing concern as well. Jerame Davis writes on the Bilerico Project, writes eloquently about this. And groups such as the HRC have been so caught up in the Rick Warren thing, it is unclear what if any plan they have to move Equality forward in 2009.

So what do you think?  Add your comments and help generate dialogue!

Added @ 4:25PM

Wanted to add a few more links examples that I have come across since I posted this originally this morning.

• A student group at Stanford: http://stanfordscme.blogspot.com/2008/11/guerilla-flyering-election-day-and.html
• FaceBook Group: Equality Flag: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=35993801337

Photo Credit: Frankfarm

Well, today is the big day for my boyfriend’s efforts.  Today Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church anbd his gang will be in Pittsburgh protesting at a funeral and a few other chosen targets. Brad started a FaceBook group, and hopes to have a very silent/peaceful counter demonstration/witness during the protest at the funeral of Catherine Baker Knoll.  If you are in the Pittsburgh area, and want to support him in this endeavor, please come by.  Fifth and Craig St, beginning at 10:30.  This is not meant to be a confrontation! Just a peaceful witness and alternative to hate speech.

I’ve written a bit about this already, and really have a lot more to say.  I just need to get to work now, so I can take some time ths morning to join the counter protest.  I did a crappy job at collecting video at the Join the Impact Rally a few weeks ago, so hopefully, I’ll do a better job today. Aside from bearing witness, I’m interested in understanding (??) what role hate has in doing the Will of God.  I’m interested in thinking about how Fred Phelps is and isn’t like the prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures. And I’m interested in being an observer. as opposed to a participant in the hate speech.  Can I go and stay peaceful and true to my own convictions, or will the energy and emotion of the moment try and suck me int it.

If you are on Facebook and want to be friends, let me know, and look for his group, “Pittsburgh Says No to Hate.”