So it's official. Love Honor Cherish (LHC) has collected a diverse group of folk as proponents of language repealing Prop 8 to be put to a ballot during the 2010 election. The language includes a religious protection for clergy and changes "marriage is between a man and a woman" to "marriage is between two persons." It further forbids the state government from restricting the right to marry on the basis of race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation.

The comments on some blogs already are criticizing the language. Let me tell you why I signed on as a proponent of the new language in its entirety:

Two weeks ago I personally experienced how adding the religious protection language changed some of last year's Yes on 8 voters' attitudes towards a ballot initiative. In a perfect world, should the religious language be avoided? Perhaps. In a political world, is it necessary? ABSOLUTELY. Remember, we lost by only 4 points. If we can peel off Yes on 8 voters in 2010 by adding religious language, then we absolutely should include it.

Rest assured that the language was parsed and fretted over endlessly before we got the version we thought would win. The language is now with Attorney General Brown. Now, we've got a lot of work ahead of us. In the immediate future, obtaining signatures and fundraising will take more work than I can ever imagine.

One FREE thing you can do today is to join Courage Campaign and many of its allies in putting economic pressure on former Yes on 8 donors by boycotting the Manchester Hyatt in San Diego. I'm a Hyatt Gold Passport member, and I made sure to sign the boycott so he knows even his frequent guests are pissed off and not gonna take it!

ANOTHER thing you can do today is to start firing up our advertising fund - ads take time to produce and money to make. Give to the Courage Campaign NOW. Whatever you can give today, whatever you can give tomorrow will be gladly accepted, no matter how small, no matter how BIG.

Remember the motto of EMILY's list, one of the most successful PACs to support women candidates:

Early

Money

Is

Like

Yeast

 - it rises.  Giving early and often is one of the best things we can do RIGHT now. Even before you think it matters, it does!  

How, in this economic climate? Well, I use David Bach's ideas to calculate my "Latte Factor" each month - and that's what I give. I'm a donor and will continue to be, even if I don't have $100,000 to give.

Standing with you in solidarity,

Ange