It occurred to me yesterday as I glanced up at the calendar. Election Day. It's now under a week away. It's easy for me to sometimes forget that there's an Election Day every year, especially with so much going on re health care and other issues, but there it is.
The reason I'm working so hard on Maine is because I remember last year when Obama and Democrats up and down the ballot were winning nationwide, we suffered a defeat in California. In the largest state in the union, people got to vote on other people's marriages, and stripped them of their rights. It was completely stunning, and generated a lot of the pushback via protests and online organizing in the weeks to follow. Now organizers in California are struggling to decide whether to go back to the ballot in 2010 or 2012, which is a heartwrenching decision. How do you tell people they have to wait to get married while you figure out a political strategy to accomplish that? And if you don't, and lose a second time, what will that mean?
This is why I'm so concerned about losing in Maine, as well as New Jersey, where a Corzine loss could mean no marriage equality in the state. While health care is raging, there's a deadline coming up in those states, and in Washington State and Michigan. I previously wrote about Referendum 71 in WA here. In Michigan, the Kalamazoo City Commission twice approved an ordinance protecting LGBT individuals from discrimination in housing, employment, and public accommodations. It's on the ballot for repeal too.
The other reason that I'm concerned is that these votes affect our movement- grassroots enthusiasm, funding, media memes about setbacks. If you don't believe me, consider how many people you've heard haven't voted for President since Kennedy in '80, or McGovern in '72, until Obama. All of these votes matter, and they're all coming up in less than a week. And if LGBT activists like myself, who also care about health care, suffer defeat on all these fronts on Election Day 2009, I guarantee we will have less energy and resources to win that battle. Our movement is inter-connected.
If you haven't found the time to pitch in yet, myself and other activists in the netroots have put together an action page here for who these campaigns are, what they need, and how to do it. All it takes is a few hours or a few dollars. You can travel to these states or you can call voters from home. Every little bit helps. While the battle on health care is raging in the Senate, we've got six days left to pick up victories on other parts of the playing field.
Click here to go to the action page, see what you can do, and help make sure 2009 isn't a bittersweet year. Maine, Washington and Kalamazoo's biggest needs are in the graphics below, and you can click on those.
There's a very moving new ad out in Washington State. Referendum 71 is on the ballot out there, and it would take away adoption rights, inheritance rights, even rights to visit one's partner in the hospital. Take a look.
Because it's the public education c3 arm, they can't directly ask for approval of Referendum 71, but it helps remind people of the challenges faced daily by LGBT couples. Plus, Washington State is a vote by mail state, and this ad will be playing as voters fill out their ballots.
Please post this ad (here's the link) to Facebook, Twitter, and e-mail the action website - www.amiprotected.org - around to people you know in the state. Remember that if you don't know anyone in Washington, you may have friends out there in your networks who do. And if you have a few shekels, you can chip in to keep it on the air.
One other update- Microsoft just threw in $100,000 to support the Approve Referendum 71 campaign. This accounts for more than "Protect Marriage Washington" has raised altogether. A few years back, Microsoft had brazenly flip-flopped on a statewide LGBT anti-discrimination measure. This helps make amends in one way. Kudos.
Update: There is still some confusion around Referendum 71. We want to APPROVE Referendum 71, which would be APPROVING the domestic partnership law recently passed. by the state leg and signed by Gov. Gregoire. It's counter to what one usually thinkgs, but ask folks for a YES vote.
I just got off the phone with Josh Friedes, the campaign manager of Approve Referendum 71, the campaign to protect the domestic partnership law in Washington State. I previously wrote about the campaign and what was at stake here, for a little background. Rights that would be stripped away from LGBT couples include using sick leave to care for a partner, unemployment and disability benefits, adoption rights, and more.
Approve Referendum 71 is releasing an internal poll by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner tomorrow showing 51% approve, 44% reject. This is great news for our side- I had been hearing from a few places that the numbers in Washington State looked bad, and that the state's fight would be overlooked this year.
The key here, though, is as much the turnout as the numbers. Josh told me:
The problem isn't that there isn't support for the domestic partnership law- the problem is that as much as half of the electorate doesn't vote in a Washington State off-year election. Those people most likely not to vote are younger, more liberal voters. The key here is voter turnout of our base. Washington is only one of very few states to have referenda in the off-year. People need to explain to their family and friends the importance of approving Referendum 71, but also the importance of an off-year election.
If you know anyone in Washington, take 5 minutes and ask them to vote to APPROVE Referendum 71. The campaign has an easy tool to do so. Washington State is a vote by mail state in 38/39 counties, so we have to get our ballots in. Ballots should be in mailboxes around Oct. 16th.
