50,656 strong to repeal Prop 8: Have you signed the pledge?
| By Lucas O'Connor, Courage Campaign - Nov 10th, 2008 at 4:25 pm PST |
| Also listed in: Courage Campaign Staff |
Over the weekend here in San Diego, as many as 10,000 Prop 8 opponents marched in protest of the elimination of marriage equality. Particularly in a city not at all known for outward political demonstrations, it was truly something to behold. But certainly San Diegans weren't alone. Large street protests were held in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Francisco, Sacramento and elsewhere throughout the state and across the country.
The energy and outrage is at times overwhelming, though certainly encouraging. The challenge before us is to figure out how to harness and channel this energy in the most effective way possible to reinstate marriage equality. More than 50,000 people have signed Courage Campaign's pledge to repeal Prop 8, but we're just getting started. Have you signed yet? Do you know people who still need to sign? The time to turn shock and outrage into a vibrant, long-term social movement is right now.
Rick Jacobs delved into the details of what's going on and what we can accomplish via email earlier today:
As we wrote to you on Friday, Californians are "witnessing the birth of a new Marriage Equality Movement -- the civil rights movement of the 21st Century."
Organized from the bottom-up by thousands of ordinary people just like you in the aftermath of the passage of Prop 8, this people-powered phenomenon is exponentially growing by the minute, online and offline.
These numbers are simply staggering, driven by organic and viral organizing on the web, via email, across Facebook, and through text messages:
Perhaps the most staggering number of all is how many people have signed the pledge to "Repeal Prop 8," launched by the Courage Campaign and joined on Friday by our friends at CREDO Mobile:
50,656
50,656 people pledging to repeal Prop 8 is absolutely phenomenal. But this is only the beginning. The larger this movement grows, the sooner marriage equality will be restored to the California state constitution. Permanently. It's up to you. Please pledge your support right now to repeal Prop 8 -- then forward this message to your friends:
http://www.couragecampaign.org/RepealProp8
Even Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger knows that it will take a grassroots movement -- neighbors talking to neighbors across California -- to make marriage equality history. As the Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday:
Governor Schwarzenegger could have done so much more to defeat Prop 8. But he is not alone. While our elected leaders need to personally campaign in communities across California to restore these fundamental civil rights to our state's constitution, it's really up to all of us to talk with our friends and neighbors.
No matter their party affiliation, 50,656 people are standing strong together -- gay and straight -- against Prop 8. Now, we need your signature. If you haven't signed the pledge yet, please show your support now to repeal Prop 8 and restore marriage equality to California -- then forward this message to your friends:
http://www.couragecampaign.org/RepealProp8
This movement is capturing the attention of people across America, from the thousands of people who have never participated in a march before to the numerous organizations now vowing to leverage their resources to repeal Prop 8.
If we can build the kind of people-powered campaign that lifted President-elect Barack Obama into the White House, together, we can restore marriage equality to California. You can help get this movement off the ground now by forwarding this email to your social networks -- family, friends, and neighbors -- as soon as possible.
Thank you for doing everything you can to change California and our country.
Rick Jacobs
Chair
The energy and outrage is at times overwhelming, though certainly encouraging. The challenge before us is to figure out how to harness and channel this energy in the most effective way possible to reinstate marriage equality. More than 50,000 people have signed Courage Campaign's pledge to repeal Prop 8, but we're just getting started. Have you signed yet? Do you know people who still need to sign? The time to turn shock and outrage into a vibrant, long-term social movement is right now.
Rick Jacobs delved into the details of what's going on and what we can accomplish via email earlier today:
"Today, we are joining our allies at the Courage Campaign by pledging to stand up for the rights of every Californian. We will put pressure on legal entities to join this fight. We will shine a spotlight on the public figures who stand against us as well as those who stand with us. This is the first step towards a true grassroots movement to talk to our families and neighbors about the importance of this issue. And, in 2010 -- or perhaps even sooner than that if the courts take action -- we will repeal Prop. 8 and achieve our goal of marriage equality for all Californians." -- Becky Bond, Political Director, CREDO Mobile
As we wrote to you on Friday, Californians are "witnessing the birth of a new Marriage Equality Movement -- the civil rights movement of the 21st Century."
Organized from the bottom-up by thousands of ordinary people just like you in the aftermath of the passage of Prop 8, this people-powered phenomenon is exponentially growing by the minute, online and offline.
These numbers are simply staggering, driven by organic and viral organizing on the web, via email, across Facebook, and through text messages:
* Marches and rallies in at least 12 cities across California and the country over the weekend, from Sacramento and San Francisco to Utah and Massachusetts.
* 10,000 marchers on Saturday in Los Angeles (Associated Press estimate).
* 10,000 marchers on Saturday in San Diego (Associated Press estimate).
Perhaps the most staggering number of all is how many people have signed the pledge to "Repeal Prop 8," launched by the Courage Campaign and joined on Friday by our friends at CREDO Mobile:
50,656
50,656 people pledging to repeal Prop 8 is absolutely phenomenal. But this is only the beginning. The larger this movement grows, the sooner marriage equality will be restored to the California state constitution. Permanently. It's up to you. Please pledge your support right now to repeal Prop 8 -- then forward this message to your friends:
http://www.couragecampaign.org/RepealProp8
Even Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger knows that it will take a grassroots movement -- neighbors talking to neighbors across California -- to make marriage equality history. As the Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday:
"Today, Schwarzenegger urged backers of gay marriage to follow the lesson he learned as a bodybuilder trying to lift weights that were too heavy for him at first. 'I learned that you should never ever give up... They should never give up. They should be on it and on it until they get it done.'"
Governor Schwarzenegger could have done so much more to defeat Prop 8. But he is not alone. While our elected leaders need to personally campaign in communities across California to restore these fundamental civil rights to our state's constitution, it's really up to all of us to talk with our friends and neighbors.
No matter their party affiliation, 50,656 people are standing strong together -- gay and straight -- against Prop 8. Now, we need your signature. If you haven't signed the pledge yet, please show your support now to repeal Prop 8 and restore marriage equality to California -- then forward this message to your friends:
http://www.couragecampaign.org/RepealProp8
This movement is capturing the attention of people across America, from the thousands of people who have never participated in a march before to the numerous organizations now vowing to leverage their resources to repeal Prop 8.
If we can build the kind of people-powered campaign that lifted President-elect Barack Obama into the White House, together, we can restore marriage equality to California. You can help get this movement off the ground now by forwarding this email to your social networks -- family, friends, and neighbors -- as soon as possible.
Thank you for doing everything you can to change California and our country.
Rick Jacobs
Chair
Comments are closed for this post.
A friend asked us to sign this pledge; we did so immediately and then sent it along to our friends and family who also signed. We stand by our pledge to the Courage Campaign to repeal Prop 8, but we also want to assert that we do NOT support any more moves by the Courage Campaign to create attack ads such as the one aired in CA about the LDS Church. While we agree that the LDS financial support and mis-representation of LGBT people helped lead to the passage of Prop 8 and we do feel AS IF they were entering into LGBT homes and taking away our fundamental rights, the video Courage Campaign created was an ad hominem attack on the LDS Church and a misrepresentation of their role in the campaign to pass Prop 8.
We call on all of us in the Courage Campaign to BE courageous and to stand up and say, point blank to a camera, that the LDS support of Prop 8 was like an invasion, and that we are speaking out against their discriminatory policies and misinformation. We also call on the Courage Campaign not to misrepresent future conflicts with other conservative or church groups through ad dramatizations or misinformation. We must create dialogues and we must break down us/them divisions to change the tide of discrimination in our nation.
We want to see our community rise above negativity, smear campaigns and ugly attacks that neither represent the complexity of our ideological divisions with those who oppose us nor forge understanding and solidarity. We understand and support the power of radicalism - but we also believe that one can be radical and respectful. We can build rather than tear down as we envision, as did Martin Luther King, a near future of inclusivity and equality.
With sincere regards,
in solidarity,
Suzanne B. Spring
Jennifer A. Lutman
Hamilton, NY