Equality Summit Presentation Final

Collective Wisdom of Our Grassroots Community Summary of Community Town Hall and On-Line Survey Findings January 24, 2009

Pamela Brown, Marriage Equality USA Policy Director [email protected] Molly McKay, Marriage Equality USA Media Director [email protected]

Our collective wisdom is presented through two reports.  “We Will Never Go Back”

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presents grassroots feedback on No on 8 campaign “Prop 8 Hurt My Family – Ask Me How” presents stories that illustrate the harm caused by initiative campaigns like Prop 8 Town hall input from over 10 town locations in the Bay Area, Sacramento, and Southern California On-line survey responses from over 3,100 participants Available for download at www.marriageequality.org

Time to reflect and plan how we can best move ahead…

 Looking back on No on Prop 8 campaign, we

did amazing things:

 No on 8 exceeded fundraising goals.  Field staff and volunteers worked non-stop.

 Election results show:

 Gained support in every county in California

(comparing Prop 22 and Prop 8 results).  Lost by 2 percent; a gap that polling shows would have disappeared if the election was held after the November 15th Join the Impact rallies.

 We have an amazing legal team that is

presenting a strong case that Prop 8 should be overturned.  We provide this constructive feedback to ensure:

 Input from the grassroots community is heard

on best practices for messages, messengers and grassroots field strategies.  Mistakes made don’t happen again.  Help us move ahead.

Clergy leaders were underutilized by the No on 8 campaign.  Clergy leaders, particularly those

who had performed marriage ceremonies, were the best spokespeople to counter faith leaders used by the Yes on 8 campaign.  Over reliance on focus group findings

directed clergy to phone banks, instead of visibility actions and outreach to congregations.  CA marriage case and now Prop 8

amicus briefs identified supportive clergy across California.

Leaders of color were underutilized by the No on 8 campaign.  There is a deep bench of Leaders from the Black, Asian,

Latino and Native American communities. We must have a campaign where all communities are well-represented as leaders, spokespeople, and in campaign literature.  “We need to engage with all people and not just people

“like us”…to ensure we are not acting in unintentionally marginalizing or discriminatory ways.”  “I feel that some of the language used in the ads, particularly „unfair and wrong‟ was very Caucasian centric. Most people of color live in a world that is unfair and wrong, so this washed right over us.”

 Funding to distribute Spanish and Asian language materials

and ads were needed at the outset of the campaign.  We must make institutional changes so that the LGBTI leadership and organizations reflect the natural diversity of our communities.

No on 8 ads lacked heart and inexcusably excluded LGBTI people.  Survey respondents and town hall

participants agreed:  “The decision to „hide‟ gay

people was unacceptable.”  No on 8 messaging was “swift boated” by the Yes on 8 campaign.  No on 8 ads were too abstract and “lacked heart.”

 We can’t take the personhood out

of a human rights campaign.  In moving ahead, community input emphasized the need to present personal stories.

“Prop 8 Hurt My Family, Ask Me How” presents stories we must share.  Prop 8 hurt real people & frightened children of same-

sex parents.  “My 6-year old, the day after we lost Prop 8, asked me with

tears running down his face if we were still a family.”

 Prop 8 caused straight allies to face homophobia and

tore families apart.  “I am a the loving parent of two young women who happen

to be gay. But my opposition to Prop 8 led to my home being vandalized.”

 Prop 8 promoted bullying in schools and destroyed

neighborhoods.  “Students at my high school harassed me…they would

chase me down the hallways yelling „Yes on 8‟ and called me derogatory names.”

 Prop 8 must be overturned so no individual or family

ever has to endure such painful experiences.

The No on 8 field plan lacked visibility and missed potential volunteers.  Though many people enjoyed their volunteer experience,

others expressed frustration at top-down control of field campaign and early restrictions to phone banking at central offices limited volunteer participation early on.  Our survey respondents put phone banking at the bottom of the list as an effective strategy in promoting marriage equality and instead highlighted importance of visibility actions to put a human face on this issue.  Election Day action was cited as memorable, was it as effective as Get Out the Vote activities?  November 15th’s Stonewall 2.0 illustrated what can be done on a national scale. Our February events provide an opportunity to do it again: MEUSA Marriage Counter actions (2/12), Capital Rally (2/16), EQCA Lobby Day (2/17)

The No on 8 campaign abandoned our Central Valley supporters.  Central Valley supporters not only felt isolated in their

own communities, but betrayed by their own campaign.  “We were drowning in a sea of yellow Yes on 8 signs

and ads, and the only thing we hear from the No on 8 campaign is more requests for money.”  “We donated all our wedding money to the No on 8 campaign and got nothing out of it. I felt sold up the river.”

 Every major Central Valley newspaper came out with a

No on 8 endorsement, but the first No on 8 TV ad wasn’t seen until the weekend before the election.  Central Valley supporters need leadership support to organize public education efforts to erase the ugly stereotypes that remain.

What can we do today to win marriage equality tomorrow?  Learn how we can create an Obama nation…  Respect, empower and include.  Merge our old-school grassroots organizing with the

power of new technology.  Get organized locally/regionally starting with Equality

Summit participant list and build list from there  Engage youth and others to help maximize use of social networking tools, blogs, etc.  Re-establish an independently funded Freedom to

Marry Coalition.  Create a central website with our organizations, roster

of leaders, and calendar of events.  Moderate monthly teleconference call.  Create task forces to advance targeted outreach work.

What do we do if we have to face another ballot initiative?  Clergy leaders must be utilized as major spokespeople for

the campaign.

 People of color must be major campaign spokespeople and

multilingual ads and materials must be easily accessible from the start.

 LGBT families, including children, telling their personal

stories must be featured in ads.

 Advertising must be shown in all 58 counties.  A properly funded grassroots effort must include local

canvassing and volunteer recruitment teams and out-of-state phone banking managed via the web.

 Mailers for absentee voters and a door-to-door Get Out the

Vote effort must occur.

What do we do to support marriage equality nationwide?  We must share our collective wisdom and

strategies with other states so other states don’t go it alone.  We must develop a calendar of visibility

events to promote earned media nationwide.  We must identify projects specifically aimed

at building support to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act.  “Never doubt that a small group of Be The Change You Want To See in the World

thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead