This week is Freedom to Marry Week. As a blogger in the GLBT community, I was asked to share ways that YOU can help promote fair legislation and rescind anti-equality measures where you live — here in California, the nemesis of our premises happens to be Prop 8, which the California Supreme Court will review for its constitutionality on March 5.
So, I offer what I’ve learned from personal experience to be effective ways to get the message out that there is no room for bigotry in our lives.
1. Communicate with your straight allies: our community tends to “preach to the choir” when it comes to marriage equality education. I have many straight friends who care deeply about marriage equality; however, it remains a low priority on their action lists. It isn’t that they don’t care but overwhelmed with all the real issues in their own lives including the current dismal economy and raising kids. Drag straight allies to protests. Host a dinner party and discussion about marriage equality and have a mixed guest list to discuss the issue of marriage equality. Send them pre-written emails that they can send to their representation in the state legislatures — MAKE IT EASY for our straight allies to step up and support us! I have had conversations with people from my home town in Maine who have NEVER met a gay person and who don’t understand why we would want marriage. One phone call is all it took with one person to help them gain perspective on the issue.
2. Use social networking to help share helpful information: While this helps with communicating with your straight allies, getting correct information out to everyone — members of our gay and straight communities — is critical. Misinformation was the catalyst of the “Yes on Prop 8″ campaign so we can fight lies with the truth. Share everything you can on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc.
Posts that I make on my Facebook page about gay marriage sometimes end up with comments replete with biblical passages to make a point about “the gay lifestyle.” These are the people who might be worth a reach out from you – offer to have a conversation with them by phone. Email can go downhill quickly and I believe that a phone conversation forces people to listen more and talk less. Try it!
3. Think about how marriage equality affects you personally and write, discuss, speak, share and/or scream to friends and family. Rich and I got engaged last week and communicating this information to friends and family with the caveat that we cannot legally marry in our home state goes a lot further with allies than talking about marriage equality in a general way. My friends/family can directly see the happiness that I have about my relationship and we provide a concrete example as to why equality should be an issue for them, too. After all, they are the ones who have to deal with unhappy Dan.
Learn more about the Freedom to Marry here. In the spirit of my own advice, people across the country are pledging to take part in 7 Conversations in 7 Days in honor of the 12th annual Freedom to Marry Week, February 8-14, 2009. Join in the pledge today!
Have a conversation today!
