Walking for Equality in South Orange County

(Proudly cross-posted at OC Progressive)

Yesterday, Team Courage OC did another neighborhood canvass. This time, we went south to Dana Point and Laguna Beach to walk. And while many other folks were simply going to the beach to cool off on a warm day, we were there to heat up the movement for LGBT civil rights in California.





We had a few "veteran canvassers" who had walked with us in Irvine join us again in South County, and we had some new faces join us as well. We talked, we got to know each other, we trained, and we paired up. Oh yes, and then we went out to walk!





Most of the areas we were walking in South County were close battlegrounds in the beautiful struggle for marriage equality. Most of South County isn't "easy territory", but it's much closer than most people think. And to my surprise, we were inundated by supporters as we walked and talked! And even though my partner and I walked a slightly friendlier neighborhood in South Laguna, I still wasn't expecting the overwhelmingly positive response we received!

"This is crazy! How did Prop 8 pass?!"

"It'll happen. Marriage equality will happen."

"Of course I support marriage equality!"

"Why must I be treated like a second class citizen?"

These were just some of the responses we received as we were walking. And again, we weren't walking in your typical "liberal bastion" in Southern California. We were in battleground territory in South Laguna and Dana Point, and we were faring much better than I could have imagined.

Believe it or not, this is how we will win our beautiful struggle for equality. We will win by knocking on doors, talking to neighbors, reaching out to the larger community. We will win by winning over millions of hearts and minds, one voter at a time.

So does this sound like something you want to be a part of? I originally couldn't imagine myself doing this back in November when my emotions were still raw and sore, but I look at myself now and am encouraged by all my fellow activists in OC participating in this movement. And if we can do it, I'm sure you can do it, too.

So why not do it? Even if you're not in California, join your local group wherever you are and make progress happen in your state. Oh, and don't forget that we must soon make progress on the federal level as well!

So please support this movement for equal rights. We can't wait any longer. We must start working now to make equality happen.

Why I Still Hope

(Proudly cross-posted at OC Progressive)

Right after the last election, I was devastated. I thought we had won, but instead I lost my fundamental rights and felt like garbage. I didn't know what do to next.

So what did this po' lil' queer kid do to start recovering what H8 stole away? I joined the impact. I put love into action. I didn't let homophobes like Rick Warren take my hope away. I looked back, then started thinking ahead. And lately, I've been waiting for our day of justice.

So what now? It's time to move on. It's time to start kicking some radical right ass and secure equality for all once and for all!

As we've talked about before, there's no way to really know how the California Supreme Court will rule in the Prop H8 lawsuits. They may issue a verdict we don't like, or they may issue a verdict that immediately reinstates marriage equality in the nation's most populous state. But either way, we must prepare for something else historic. We must prepare for the campaign afterward to secure our civil rights.

No matter what the court decides, we will likely see reaction to the ruling lead to action at the ballot box. Either the radical right will further try to erode LGBT rights and/or we will work for an initiative to secure marriage equality in California for good. So in order to prepare for the inevitable continuing campaign, we must ensure we build the strongest campaign possible. And no, I don't just mean raising money or putting up media ads. While we do need both, the inept and failed No on H8 campaign proved that those weren't enough to win.

We must knock doors. We must make calls. We must talk to our neighbors. We must register voters. We must reach out in our community and build those personal connections necessary to make a real impact and change people's hearts and minds.

This is why I've been so impressed by Courage Campaign. They get it. They realize how important grassroots community action is, so they're willing to help build local networks statewide like the one I'm working on in my hometown, Orange County. Without them, I don't know how I'd be able to prepare for our upcoming community outreach walks in Irvine on April 4 and Dana Point on April 18. Without their help in finding other local activists to help me do all this organizing, I don't know how I could have done this all on my own.

So if you're in California, please consider joining Courage Campaign. Give of your time if you can. Give of your money if you can. If you care about our civil rights, just give what you can and join our movement for equality.

And if you're not in California, you can still help us out here. But more importantly, go find your local LGBT activist network and join them. We need to see progress in all 50 states to build our way up to a nationwide tipping point for equality.

We're so close. I'm so fired up. I still have my hope, and no court or fundie wingnut can take it away from me.

After Prop H8: Looking Back, Thinking Ahead

(Originally posted at The Liberal OC)

In a typically rare occasion, I had to cross "The Orange Curtain" last weekend to attend two major LGBT civil rights events in Los Angeles, Equality Summit and Camp Courage. And even though I hardly got any sleep Saturday night, I'm glad I did both. One helped me understand what went wrong with the No on H8 campaign in California last year, while the other helped me realize what needs to be done to make it right in 2009 and 2010.

On Saturday, I attended Equality California's Equality Summit in Downtown LA. I didn't quite know what to expect when I first stepped in the Convention Center. But once the summit began, I quickly realized what this was becoming.

When the leaders of the No on H8 campaign began speaking, anxiety was already beginning to fill the room. And when some of them didn't really want to answer the questions on what went wrong, the anxiety quickly turned into anger. The election may have been nearly three months ago, but that doesn't mean LGBT people aren't still hurting after losing fundamental rights at the ballot box. People wanted accountability, but the campiagn leaders still seemed afraid to own up to what happened.

Well, not everyone was afraid. Some, like EQCA's Geoff Kors, actually seemed open to learning from mistakes. And better yet, the folks from Marriage Equality USA seemed ready to undo the damage. However, others just preferred to shift blame to someone else. Fortunately, the lovely Eva Patterson of Equal Justice Society was able to calm the crowd after a storm of fury. She broke to us the hard fact that we'll eventually need to forgive and move on if we intend to build a strong coalition.

After the venting was done, we were then able to engage in some constructive dialogue. David Binder, one of the Obama Campaign's pollsters, gave some definitive answers on what went wrong in the Prop H8 vote. Also at the summit, I was able to meet with local leaders to talk about preparing a winning plan for OC. All in all, I found good use out of Equality Summit.

If Equality Summit was about dealing with the past, then Courage Campaign's Camp Courage seemed all about preparing for the future. I could feel something different in West Hollywood yesterday as I stepped in the auditorium. Instead of the soul searching and frustration I had witnessed the previous day, this event would be more upbeat and action oriented. But hey, what should I have expected from an event modeled after Camp Obama?

I'll be brutally honest, the "Fired Up! Ready to Go!" and "Yes We Can!" chants seemed a little creepy at first. As someone who supported Hillary Clinton in the Democratic Primary (before moving to Barack Obama for the general election), I was starting to feel uncomfortable. But once the program got rolling, I was blown away... In a good way.

We had "old school" civil rights activists, like Lisa Powell and SEIU's Liz Moore, train us on telling our stories and persuading voters. We also had newer activists, like Calitics blogger & Courage organizer Julia Rosen, train us on new tools like Courage's Equality Hub. All in all, I felt like I was actually being empowered to undo the damage of H8 at Camp Courage yesterday.

And ultimately, this is why I'm glad I did both. This is why the LGBT community needs to have both experiences. The marriage equality battle has been tough, and numerous mistakes have been made in the past, so we need to vent and scream and shout and forgive and understand and ultimately learn from our mistakes. And then, we need to move on and start figuring out what we must do now and in the future to succeed in the beautiful struggle for equality.

But hey, this doesn't come cheap. EQCA can't do this alone, and neither can Courage Campaign. We need to support these California groups that are working hard in court and on the ground to overturn H8. Oh yes, and let's not forget the local groups that are doing the same here in my area and in yours. We need to look back, look ahead, and ultimately get to work to make equality happen.

Love in Action

Last Saturday, about 30 of us local civil rights activists in Orange County went out to see "Milk". And afterwards, we were all inspired by the story of "The Mayor of Castro Street" to go out & make a difference outside South Coast Plaza.

And guess what? We kept going on Sunday! In fact, we took our message of love & equality directly to H8 headquarters. And believe it or not, there's not as much H8 here as you'd think.

Come along with me as I tell you about my weekend full of love & equality.

On Saturday, Courage Campaign sponsored "MILK + Love" events all over California to remind the state that the civil rights movement isn't over yet. And yes, I hosted the event in Costa Mesa. I received RSVP email after RSVP email in the 72 hours before the event, but I seriously doubted that 46 people would actually show up.

But lo & behold, we actually had over 50 people come to the candlelight vigil after the movie! And better yet, most passers-by were quite moved by our plea for equal rights. In fact, a family doing some holiday shopping stopped by to apologize for their votes for H8 as the husband & wife were showing the kids all the other loving families at the rally. They seemed to be crying once they met the married couples that the Yes on H8 campaign wants to divorce against their will. I nearly cried after they left.

Well, I guess that was good preparation for what would happen the following day. I woke up early Sunday morning to make the trek down the toll road to Saddleback Church. I wanted to make sure I'd be there in time for the 9:00 AM & 11:00 AM services. But oh my, I didn't know what I'd be jumping into!

Sure, I expected the few people driving into church who shouted expletives at us. However, I didn't expect a church member to walk down from the campus to apologize for the recent Rick Warren related controversies. She tried to tell us that Warren isn't a bigot. Someone from our group wanted to shout her down, but the rest of us speaking with her quieted him down. Then, a lesbian couple who was married this year explained to the church member how they're not treated equally under a domestic partnership even though it's "just like marriage". She had asked about compromising by "calling it something else", but she started to understand as we were telling her our own stories of discovering that there's no such thing as "separate but equal". The church member told us of her gay son & gay cousins, and I told her of my Christian friends. We cried, we hugged, and I gave her my card in hopes that she will continue the conversation we began yesterday.

Believe it or not, not everyone at Saddleback Church hates queer people. Sure, we got the dirty looks and the thumbs down and the expletives. However, we also discovered our fair share of thumbs up and amicable waves among both the passers-by along Portola Parkway and parishioners leaving church. I guess once they realized that queer people aren't so scary, they let go of whatever fear and hatred they once had. I mean, how could they look directly at the married gay couple that joined us later in the day and say that they should be forcibly divorced?

Really, that was the success of our weekend of action here in Orange County. We practiced what Harvey Milk preached. We showed the outside world that LGBT people are people too. We came out, showed our love, and asked our neighbors to join in sharing the love... And the civil rights!

It's so crucial that we remain out of our closet comfort zone in the coming months as the California Supreme Court determines the immediate fate of marriage equality and the voting public decides whether to reconsider their opinions in 2010. We must be out fighting for our rights. We must be out winning hearts and minds. We can't just expect California to fall into place, or for President Obama to magically make everything better. We musf make it happen!

So please, make sure Courage Campaign is ready for 2010. Make sure the ACLU can continue to win our rights in court. And most importantly, go out & put you love into action by telling everyone why equal rights for all matter.