Equality Camp

Meet in the Middle is this Saturday May the 30th in Fresno. 1pm. City Hall. We’ll be there. Join us.

There are an awful lot of groups you can join or work with to help.

Matt has a pretty complete list at stop8.org

This is a decentralized movement. A first as far as I know. There are many groups you can help.
I’ve spent a lot of time getting to know what’s going on in this new movement. Here are some personal thoughts about what I view as the most critical organizations to getting a successful ballot initiative. Please help them or any of the other groups listed at stop8.org or begin your own to meet an unmet need.
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With an opening apology that I am WOEFULLY overdue in posting my recap and full video from last week’s conversation with Kate Kendell, Geoff Kors and Tawal Panyacosit.

It’s coming. I promise.

But in the mean time, here’s another tidbit to tide you over …

It was a last minute decision but I’m glad I opted to sit on in tonight’s call with California State Assemblymember, John Perez.  Six organizations that have arisen as key players in the marriage equality movement worked together to make this call happen. Those organizations were: Courage Campaign, Equality Network, Equal Roots Coalition, Postcards to the President, White Knot, & Won Together (apologies to the Won Together folks as several Google searches turned up empty for related web sites).

From his dining room in Los Angeles, Rick Jacobs, the Founder and Chair of the Courage Campaign, served as master of ceremonies. He welcomed everyone, introduced Assemblymember Perez and then handed moderation of the Q&A session to Sarah Polaro and Frank Voce (they were never properly introduced on the call so I don’t know from what organization they come or if that’s even the correct spelling of their names …).

I opted to start the recording a minute or two into Rick’s introduction so missed the first bit, and there are a few moments of technology clash when my attempt to interact with the call meant I had to take it off speaker phone … so there’s a bit of a content speed bump at the end, but you should get a pretty good idea.

So without further ado (or further disclaimer or apology) here is the discussion in (very close to) its entirety.

— Cathy

Bear in mind that these two events had different purposes and here really hadn’t been an airing of what happened in the No on 8 campaign, which is why the Equality Summit happened, along with the question of what to do next. My experience so far

Equality Summit
>organized by dozens of groups and a committee of over 50
>expensive impersonal convention center
>rock hard bagels
>check you off on a list
>wifi available for pay ($14/day_ few power outlets)
>tables with tablecloths for seating
>panels with lawyers
>anger between audience and plenaries. Questions unanswered about past
>facilitators provided for breakout sessions with flip charts for writing notes
>multiple plenary sessions with opening and closing comments by politicians and everyone who politically had to be included
>Obama mentioned a few times from stage

Camp Courage
>organized by a few paid staff for Campaign Courage
>donated rec center in W Hollywood
>nice soft bagels, packets of trail mix, fruit, little powdered sugar donuts
>please find your own name on the registration list
>free wifi + many extension cords
>open seating in assigned small groups (6-8) with new people to meet
>storytelling sessions
>no focus on past
>people running own sessions with info structure
>no plenary sessions: multiple airings of stories from veteran organizers
>Obama campaign referenced a great deal (Camp Obama + Equality Camp models for Camp Courage): Mantra borrowed from Obama campaign for entire event and practice: Respect – Empower – Include

-heather

Gettoknowusfirst.org aired these spots in most California counties during the inauguration (the kind of spots that we wish would have started 6 months before the prop 8 vote, but I guess we’re starting nice and early for the next vote). But KABC of LA serving Orang County refused to air the spots because “many families will be watching.”

Queer folks and our families and our entire movement need to make good use of the word family. 1) it gets used (as above) as away to avoid saying “watching gay people exist together makes me uncomfortable” and 2) it’s a powerful truth. We have families. We were children. We have children. It gets at the heart of connection, love and social belonging all of which are truths today. The more visible and strong our reality, the more quickly our legal equality will come.
-heather

There’s just about a week before EQCA’s Equality Summit in LA. All five of the EqualityCamp organizing posse will be hitting the road to attend and hope to see many of you there. The good news for those who can’t make it is that EQCA will be webcasting much of the proceedings with a 30 minute delay. I’m also glad to report that the organizers of Equality Summit have rethought their previous moratorium on media attendance at the gathering. So this WILL be an open event, though they will be asking the press to get specific permission to quote material in any of the breakout sessions or smaller workshops.

One of the highlights in the program (at least for me) is a session with David Binder – a guru of research and major player in the Obama/Biden campaign. He’ll be bringing his research findings on the No on 8 campaign sorting out where precisely it went wrong. They will have a 30 minute Q&A session with him after his discussion.  They don’t indicate whether they’ll open up those questions to the folks watching by Internet, but my guess is that the 30 minute delay will make that impossible. So if you have specific questions you want asked, just leave a comment on this post and your Equality Camp posse will ensure we at least toss a hand in the air and try to get it answered.

Now without further ado, here’s the program as of Jan. 17:

7:45 AM Registration begins. Coffee, Pastries & Networking in Main Room

8:00 AM Shabbat services available with Rabbi Denise L. Eger

9:00 AM OPENING PLENARY SESSION – Looking Backward and Moving Forward

Welcome by State Assemblymember John A. Perez

Presentations from NO on 8 and Let California Ring Staff and Marriage Equality USA

Proposition 8 Post-Election California Voter Survey, presented by David Binder, Consultant to Obama/Biden Campaign
Question & Answer session

Keynote Speech by Eva Paterson, Equal Justice Society 11:20 AM

Break 11:30 AM

BREAKOUT SESSIONS for networking & strategy by interest/constituency:
African American; Asian & Pacific Islander; Faith Communities; Families; Government/elected officials/legislative advocates; Grassroots Community Organizers; Labor Unions; Latino; Legal; Media (Earned and Paid); Netroots/Web 2.0; Transgender; and Youth

12:30 PM lunch break (food court open and available)

1:30 PM PLENARY SESSION – Race, Religion & the LGBT Movement Presentation and Q&A Prop 8 polling data analysis released by the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute, by Patrick J. Egan, Ph.D., of New York University, and Kenneth Sherrill, Ph.D., of Hunter College, CUNY Discussion facilitated by Jan Adams and Bob Wing

3:00 PM break

3:10 PM BREAKOUT SESSIONS for networking & strategy by region: Central Valley/Central Coast/Nor Cal Rural areas; Inland Empire/Coachella Valley; Los Angeles County; Orange County/Long Beach; Sacramento Area; San Diego area; San Francisco Bay Area; and Statewide & National

4:10 PM break

4:20 PM PLENARY SESSION – What’s Next?

Panel update on legal and electoral issues
Open Source development of strategy ideas from attendees

5:20 PM break, snacks

5:30 PM BREAKOUT SESSIONS for next step strategy planning

Sessions proposed and led by summit attendees.

6:30 PM break, snacks

6:40 PM CLOSING PLENARY SESSION – What’s Next?
Report back from breakout groups, facilitated by Lawrence Ellis

Closing at 7:30

– Cathy