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Editorial note: I will be taking a break and going on vacation starting tonight, and back the week of the 15th. See you all then!
In last week's essay on constructive criticism in the LGBT movement, I wrote on how no one- neither external activists nor traditional legacy organizations- has a monopoly on good strategies and tactics in our movement. Everyone brings something to the table. I also wrote regarding how external netroots activists should listen to pushback and good ideas from our colleagues in legacy organizations. That doesn't mean just good theories of change, but also that folks should see and promote sound tactics when they see them.
And so in keeping up on my end of the stick, there are two important things I want to let everyone know about. The first is today's virtual lobby day HRC launched to coincide with yesterday's formal introduction of legislation to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell. While it's important to keep calling for more media pressure and pushback, and to keep pressuring the Administration to commit to including repeal language in the defense authorization bill, our side must also do our part to build the votes, and now is a critical time to pressure lawmakers.
To that end- and particularly if you haven't done anything to support repeal- there are several things you can take a minute to do:
1. E-mail your House member and Senators. Then, perhaps more critically, follow-up with a phone call. The Capitol switchboard is 202-224-3121. Ask them to support repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell.
2. Promote the action on Facebook (also for those with 100% supportive members). There are also a number of additional virtual actions you can do at HRC's action page here.
The second thing I want to mention is that in a great example of blog-legacy org collaboration, The Bilerico Project (where I occasionally cross-post) and Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians and Gays (popularly known as PFLAG) are teaming up to offer scholarships to unemployed people who lost their jobs because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. The scholarships, which are targeted at eight target states, cover travel to DC to attend National Center for Transgender Equality's ENDA lobby day on Tuesday, March 16th. The eight target states are:
Alaska
Arkansas
Florida
Indiana
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
West Virginia
If you or someone you know have lost your job because of who you are and are from one of these states, come to DC. One colleague of mine a few weeks ago noted to me is that ENDA activists don't have our Matthew Shepard or our Dan Choi- well-known examples in the media of how hate crimes and Don't Ask, Don't Tell, respectively, affect people. You could be that person on ENDA and help lots of other people.
Applications are due at midnight tomorrow night. More details can be found by clicking here. You can also donate to help bring even more people, and details on how to do that are in Jillian's post.
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