My partner snapped this picture of a gentleman working passersby in Berkeley yesterday. He was getting people to sign this petition, a project of the Courage Campaign, CREDO Mobile, Join the Impact and MoveOn.org. A couple of observations on this:
- These groups are doing an online organizing project -- but they've actually moved someone to take the campaign to the street as well. Interesting -- and good for them.
- These groups are not the formation that ran the "No on 8" effort -- nor are they likely to be automatically at the center of any future initiative campaign about gay rights. Aside from Join the Impact they are not groups that are particularly LGBT-identified. I don't have a problem with that. They are collecting up activists on the issue while the issue is hot; better someone should than that the energy should dissipate. At some point, they and the established campaigners, and a lot of other people who were not deeply included in the campaign last year will have to get on the same page if California has another ballot measure about marriage equality.
- Wonderful as these groups are, they are not recognized leaders in the constituencies who, past results showed, must be included better from the outset if we are to win this. That is, marriage equality can't succeed without more votes from religious people, including religious people in the communities of color. That's going to take folks who will probably need to be brought in by overtures other than those of the Courage Campaign, CREDO Mobile, or MoveOn.org.
3 comments:
Advocacy at it's finest. A huge thank you from kelli to Creedo the Courage Campaign and the spectacular gentleman collecting signatures.
This posting puzzles me. Do I hear you saying that certain people/groups are more entitled to be concerned about repealing Prop 8 than others? From what I know of you through your blog and political activities, this would be a surprise.
Hi Naomi -- I'm certainly not saying that anyone who wants to Repeal Prop. 8 should not be involved. But working an election in California is an ENORMOUS undertaking, requiring expansive coalitions among numerous people who do not easily work together or trust one another. Coalitions like that need transparency of intent from all their constituent elements and systems for agreeing on activities and messages. This is hard work, not something folks should jump into without thinking about others -- yet something that requires the devotion that activists bring. It's a tough balance. We've seen too much of the recriminations that happen with trust is not built up within a coalition.
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