Join the Impact

Our movement for full Civil Equality has been infused over the past 2 weeks with so many inspired and powerful voices! JoinTheImpact has been working nonstop with members from many other organizations to ensure that we keep our visibility strong. We must also never stop this conversation. I know that many of you are tired from all of the hard work we have done over the past two weeks, so don’t forget to take a moment and breathe. In just two short weeks, we have all come together to mobilize this nation and this debate. The JoinTheImpact team has been working incredibly hard to ensure that our voices do not go unheard. We wanted to announce to you our plans for the next 3 months and let you see how JoinTheImpact will be evolving: Read the rest of this entry »

On November 15th, we took to the streets and shouted for our rights and against the acts revoking rights on November 4th. We mobilized in ways this country has never seen and did so on the steps of City Halls and US Embassies throughout the world! On December 20th, we ask that you join us again for a demonstration that will make an impact on the private sector. Thanks to the great suggestion of one of our readers mixed with the brilliant ideas of the Civil Rights Front, we ask that you join us to Light Up the Night for Equal Rights. Please take to your local commercial district, be it a shopping mall, outdoor financial center, you name it and join your community and allies for one POWERFUL candlelight vigil for the rights of 18,000 same-sex couples who married and look forward to the day when those rights will be available again – for EVERYONE. This will be a peaceful demonstration in the spirit of the holidays. We will stay silent unless asked a question, we will not yell, instigate, or bare signs. Instead, we will let our shirts do the talking and our candles pay our respects. We ask that everyone joining wear a shirt that says “2nd Class Citizen” and our allies wear one saying “My Friend is a 2nd Class Citizen” , “My Mother…” , “My Son…” etc. JoinTheImpact will be working with LGBTQ and allied retailers and designers to bring you these shirts, and you are also welcome to make your own. Work with your local organizer to determine which shopping center(s) and work with us to ensure this statement remains peaceful and sincere. Visibility will keep this conversation going and during this important season of family and giving, we will continue to give you the opportunity to sit down and share your stories with those you love. Let’s all drive this important point home and work together so that one day, we can share the holidays with our legal spouse!

In the spirit of this holiday season, JoinTheImpact invites you to join us for the season of giving and come together under the banner of that which unites us all: Love. Let us go above and beyond. Let us set aside our own struggles, our own needs, to demonstrate to the nation and the world the collective power of the LGBTQ community to be a force of betterment for all society. We will rise above the divisions to recognize that we are all human, we are all working to carve out a space for ourselves in the world, and we all want the same simple opportunities. Beginning on November 28th, 2008 and going until we Light Up the Night for Equal Rights on December 20th, JoinTheImpact is launching the first national LGBTQ Food Drive for Equality! Through this event, we will work to reach out not only to those who have worked alongside us, but to organizations and individuals that fear us and oppose our cause. Our efforts to alleviate the hunger America is facing in this difficult time will be indiscriminate with regards to creed or political philosophy. These are gaps we can and must bridge if we are going to achieve equality in this country. So on Saturday, Dec. 20th, leading up to our LUTN vigil, each city will be organizing a massive charitable effort to demonstrate the positive impact the LGBT community can make. The effort has already begun in Cleveland, OH, so look to JoinTheImpact.com for a step by step model to maximize the impact in your city or region. Join us for this important event, and on Saturday, we will demonstrate the powerful impact the LGBT movement can have in the lives of ordinary Americans.

About 4 years ago, I moved from Cleveland, Ohio to Seattle, Washington. In the cross country drive, I stopped in Lincoln Nebraska to pay my respects to Brandon Teena. For those of you who don’t know, Brandon Teena, was an FTM who was brutally raped and murdered on December 31st, 1993 because he was transgendered. This horrific act constitutes one of the most infamous hate crimes of the 1990’s. Yet, when I approached Brandon Teena’s grave, it seemed like all had been forgotten. Ignoring the facts of who he was, it was decided that his tombstone say his birth name: Teena Ranea Brandon. As I stared at the tombstone, there was a group of men from the military practicing the traditional call to arms burial a few hundred feet behind me. Because this was a practice and not an actual funeral, the sargent screamed obscenities at the men telling them how to properly hold their weapons. Words like Faggot and Dick Fucker were towering from behind me. This moment, was one of utter sadness and brutal irony. Read the rest of this entry »

We have added 3 very important updates to this site:

1. Events Calendar: This will tell you all of the NATIONAL events that JoinTheImpact is a part of
2. Other Events: This will be a place for local events. Our goal is to get out the word for important local events that help further the cause!
3. Letters from Readers: Our readers send us some AMAZING letters. We want to give them a voice as well. Please check back often for some great words of inspiration and understanding from our readers.

Recently, President Elect Barack Obama released his Civil Rights Agenda on Change.gov. Whether you agree with his election into office or not, his transparency and eagerness to communicate with the American people is a true testament to his grassroots ideals and fight for change that many voted for. This Civil Rights Agenda includes “Support for the LGBT Community” in the following ways:

• Expand Hate Crimes Statutes
• Fight Workplace Discrimination
• Support FULL Civil Unions and Federal Rights for LGBT Couples (Includes Repealing DOMA)
• Oppose a Constitutional Ban on Same-Sex Marriage
• Repeal Don’t Ask-Don’t Tell
• Expand Adoption Rights
• Promote HIV/AIDS Prevention

We are in the eye of this generation’s Civil Rights Movement and we cannot stop this momentum now! Barack Obama has laid out many great promises, but we need to pave the way for him to legislate on our behalf. Even Barack Obama makes promises for votes, so let’s take a moment to remind him of his promises and let him know that we will keep this movement going to hold him to his word and help him along the way. Because of this, while we have many initiatives on the Calendar to keep moving forward and fighting for equality, we want to squeeze something in that we ask for your immediate attention on. We feel that, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, it is time to say “thank you” and let President Elect Barack Obama know that we have read his promises and will do what it takes to help him follow through. As such, JoinTheImpact is teaming up with the Civil Rights Front’s Project Postcard Campaign.
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What we accomplished on Saturday was the first step of one amazing journey. Many people have asked me why Proposition 8 has caused such an uproar in our community. Honestly, this movement has been forging for many years, but Proposition 8 was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Many have called this Stonewall 2.0, and I won’t disagree. Stonewall awoke a wildfire in the gay rights movement and Saturday’s world-wide protests showed this work just how strong a wildfire can be!

As everyone knows, Saturday’s protests didn’t solve the problem overnight, but what they did was raise awareness across this world about the problem. Thanks to all of you, this conversation is no longer between “us and them.” This conversation is occuring all over the world in living rooms, coffee shops, airplanes, offices, college campuses, and even retirement communities. The worst thing we could do right now is let this conversation fizzel out! Help us keep this conversation going. Share your stories, your videos, and photos with us. Help us record Saturday’s history making initiative, help us spread the word, and work with us for full equality! We can never let people forget about what Proposition 8 did to 18,000 marriages. The word DOMA needs to be in everyone’s vocabulary. In a world where so many children need homes, people must know how a vote in Arkansas took the right of adoption away from unmarried and gay couples.
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Last week, some felt angry. Last week, some felt defeated. Last week, some felt hopeless.

Today we have shown the world that we will not be victims anymore! Today, our community has risen and shown our opponents that we are MUCH MORE THAN 1 MILLION STRONG! We brought the world’s attention to the outrage that is Proposition 8. We brought the conversation of equality into the living rooms of America and around the world! Today, we took a gigantic step into the next Civil Rights Movement. We have brought the conversation to a national stage. Now it’s time that we keep it going. Join us in a challenge over the next 10 months that will make an IMPACT. 10 months – 10 lives changed. Everyone in this movement must help keep the conversation going. We are asking each and every one of you to engage in 10 conversations with someone who does not understand our struggle and help them to see our point of view. We are not asking that you try to infringe on or disrespect their beliefs. Change can not occur with insult, it will only occur with respect. If all of us work hard to positively affect 10 lives, we can change this entire nation! To help keep the conversation going, we will work with you to launch (at least) 10 national demonstrations of equality outreach. We have already begun taking the steps toward our next big event: Day Without A Gay on December 10th. It is now time we work with our nation to help them see who we are: citizens of the USA who deserve equal protections under the law!
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