1) We're marching for the first time, for something other than a Pride Event.
2) For Godsakes, Barack Obama was elected President! He's pledged to roll back Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Repeal , repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, and push for anti-discrimination laws against gays. And the Speaker of the House is from San Francisco. Who started taking her kids to gay pride parades when they were kids. Can we have more supportive people at the top??
3) 48% voted against hate, up from 38% in 2000 when Prop 22, which did the same thing that Prop 8 does except it was not a constitutional amendment, passed. That's a 20 point swing in 8 years!
3) Young people voted overwhelmingly with us and they don't put up with bigotry and discrimination being written into state laws; their vision of the future will set us free.
4) 69 newspapers wrote editorials on Prop 8. 69 opposed Prop 8 including conservative papers like the San Diego Tribune and the Orange County Register. Unprecedented in our community! Not a single paper endorsed this discriminatory measure!
5) We built a truly national coalition and received donations from all FIFTY states; the opposition received the bulk of their money from Utah and California, with smaller donations from people in other states, except Vermont. Yay Vermont!
(and since there is a handy website where you can see who donated and how much by zip code, I did. From my hometown of Bellingham Washington, there were 12 donations all against prop 8. Thank you hometown! And in my zip code in Los Angeles there were only 7 people supporting Prop 8 and 330 opposing donations. I feel better walking my dogs in the neighborhood.)
6) In 2000, we won just 6 counties, all in the bay area. In 2008 we won 15 counties and were just a point away from winning LA County. All the more reason why we need to keep fighting. Nearly 1/3 Californians lives in LA County, the biggest in the country, and where LA County goes, so goes the state, where the state goes, so goes the nation.
7) We had endorsements and votes from everyone important. Brad Pitt (D-Calif) Britney Spears (R-Calif), House Speaker Pelosi (D-Calif), Governor Schwarzenegger (R-Calif), Senators Feinstein and Boxer (D-Calif), President-elect Obama (D-Ill), and God (D-Heaven).
8) The tide is turning and history is on our side. Every single movement that started in the streets for civil rights, from women to the United Farm Workers, has won and our day is within sight!
9) The most popular companies in America took out full page ads on our behalf and supported us throughout the campaign. Every time someone from Yes on 8 buys an iPod, does an internet search at Google, or pays their electric bill to PG&E, their money is going to a company that will continue to fight for us. (or buys a pair of Levis)
10) Now that the different groups that made up Yes on Prop 8 are done stripping fundamental rights away from gays, they'll probably go back to attacking each other.
11) You can now take that money you were planning on spending on that wedding, buy stocks at record low prices, and when we can get married again, throw a wedding that all your straight friends will be jealous of. AND have enough left over a down payment on that fabulous West Hollywood condo!
12) How much better did we look on the campaign trail vs. the opposition?
+1) We always said that we could not win this without 100% support from our community and allies (even out of state!) and although we had record breaking numbers of people involved and giving, we need those last few holdouts to get involved and push us over the top. Now is the time to talk to those friends, families, and voters that we didn't on November 3rd, and make sure they're on board giving money and giving time as we move forward.
2 comments:
very well said Jim. Love your add ins too. You are so clever.
It is cool knowing there were people in Bham against Prop 8!
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