By any measure, 2012 looks like it’s going to be a landmark year for LGBT rights. Activists, citizens, and politicians across the US and beyond are striving for progress – just this morning Washington Governor Chris Gregoire announced her intention to push for marriage equality in her state’s legislature. But we’re in for some sobering challenges as well – we’re likely to face more anti-LGBT attacks at ballot boxes across the country this year than we have in a decade. And we know all too well from Prop 8 what that means: our opposition will be unleashing the same fear-mongering appeals to anti-gay prejudice that they’ve used against us over and over again in the past, always with heartbreaking results.
Right here in California, we’re almost certainly going to face a campaign on an issue that’s right in our opposition’s dishonest strike zone: the question of what kids learn in schools about LGBT people. The FAIR Education Act has now been state law for four days meaning simply that, eventually, every public school student here will see in their history textbook the contributions that great LGBT heroes have made to our society. But our opposition will soon begin gathering signatures to repeal FAIR at the ballot box on November 6th. They’re out to dismantle all the good that this simple measure will do for LGBT and straight young people alike, and they’ll be claiming yet again that it’s LGBT people who are a threat to kids.
If we can figure out how to counter their attacks, and win this election, we’ll have disabled the most effective weapon that our opposition has used against us on every issue, from marriage to adoption rights, for over a decade.
There’s very little time to unearth the messages and build the team it will take to win. So start 2012 off right and get involved with the fight for equality. Join VFE for our first actions of the year:
Night of Action – Thursday January 5th – 6:30-9:30PM
The Village (1125 N McCadden Place, Los Angeles, CA, 90038)
Night of Action – Thursday January 12th – 6:30-9:30PM
The Village (1125 N McCadden Place, Los Angeles, CA, 90038)
VFE’S FIRST CANVASS OF THE YEAR – Saturday January 14th – 9:30AM-4:00PM
Meeting at Christ Chapel of the Valley (11050 Hartsook Street, North Hollywood, CA 91601)
To sign-up, email Steve at sdeline@lagaycenter.org. Happy New Year, and we hope to see you soon!
