Is helping the LGBT community important to you? Is defending my rights, your rights or the rights of friends and family something you care about? If it is, and you live in New York City, I’m sure you can find 3 or 4 hours to help fight for equality this summer! Please make some time for equality and civil rights and watch our combined efforts win this November! Read below for more info.
On May 17th, 2004 we were victorious in the marriage fight in Massachusetts. As every battle energizes the movement for marriage equality, likewise every defeat sets back our mission for equality by years, if not decades. Our thriving and passionate marriage equality movement stands to face the largest setback in the 21st century this November if California passes an amendment which would wipe out all signs of progress that we have made for equal marriage.
In Florida, an anti-marriage amendment there is not just pushing to enshrine bigotry into their constitution, they’re aiming to outlaw every type of recognition that seeks to grant non-married couples some semblance of equal footing with married couples. They not only want to keep us from getting married, they want to take it even further and deny EVERY possible right they can for LGBT couples, even rights not exclusively associated with marriage!
This year it’s not just marriage rights that are under attack. Indeed our very right to not be discriminated against in society is under attack. In Montgomery County, Maryland, a coalition of right-wing forces are pushing for the first time ever to put an anti-discrimination law for transgender and gender variant Americans up for referendum. Since when in the United States of America do we have minority rights granted by the majority? Jim Crow and legally segregated schools would have lasted decades longer if America worked that way! If this referendum is approved, and voters repeal the law, the right wing has promised to spread the referendum to other states that currently have transgender-friendly policies.
This all falls into a similar pattern of the right wing historically attacking a slew of rights through ballot initiative, be it immigrants’ rights, a womens’ right to choose, affirmative action or even labor rights.
If you are in the New York Area I urge you to get involved with an amazing group set up by the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force to fight for our rights this November. The group is called Volunteer for Equality. The concept behind the group is to give communities under attack a boost of people-power by plugging New Yorkers into campaigns all over the country. We make phone calls to recruit volunteers in other cities, call voters to talk to them during critical moments in a campaign and even run Get Out The Vote Programs.
HERE’S HOW YOU CAN HELP NEW YORKERS!
- With pride coming up this week, we have an opportunity to talk to HUNDREDS of people about getting involved. This chance only comes one a year, so we’re talking to people face to face at Trans Day of Action on June 27th.
Please Join us (with your friends!) on Friday from 2pm-5pm to talk to people about getting involved! The group will be meeting at 3pm at the Task Force NYC office (message me at travis.ballie at gmail.com for directions FREE T-SHIRT).
- Another fantastic chance to talk to people one on one is at the Dyke march on Saturday, June 28th at Bryant Park (again message me at travis.ballie at gmail.com for directions, the group will be meeting from 3pm-7pm FREE T-SHIRT!).
- If neither of those times works for you, we also are organizing a high-spirited effort to turn out Florida activists to fight the anti-marriage, homophobic amendment! We will be phonebanking ALL SUMMER on Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday evenings. Try and at least make one of them to make a tremendous difference! The schedule is below and all phone banks are held at the task for office (message me at travis.ballie at gmail.com for directions, address below and FREE PIZZA!)
Phone bank Schedule
Tuesdays 6pm-9:15pm
Wednesdays 6pm-9:15pm
Sundays (starting July 6th) 5pm-8:15pm