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 »

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.
Read the rest of this entry »

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.
Read the rest of this entry »

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!
Read the rest of this entry »

Tomorrows events will turn out over 1million people organizing across 300 cities in all 50 states and 10 countries world-wide! Please get the word out to all of your friends. This has grown beyond a national event – this is HISTORICAL! Read the Press Release Here…

I’m sitting on a plane flying from Vegas back to Seattle, WA. I have been in Vegas for 3 days for a work-related conference and have spent my nights into early mornings in my hotel room, sifting through emails, answering phone calls, and getting the word out. You know how sometimes you sit on a plane and end up in a nonstop conversation with the person next to you? And since their proximity is so close to you, there is no real way to stop the conversation without being rude. And none of us want to be rude to the person we are going to sit next to for the next 2-3 hours. Well the people behind me are in this predicament. They first started talking about what is truth, then shifted to truth in politics, and then I heard it… the statement that made me wake up from my attempt at sleeping, open this computer, and start writing: Someone asked “Have you heard of this protest thing happening? Have you heard of Join The Impact?” I must admit, I have now been rudely eavesdropping as these people continue the conversation. On a plane ride, flying across the country, two perfect strangers are talking about our rights!! Ladies and Gentleman, we have started something huge! Saturday is fast approaching and it’s time I share with you what we plan to do next.

It is the wish of the JoinTheImpact team to keep working with and for our community. Over this week, we have been contacted by multiple organizations and fellowships who want to work with us to continue this conversation, to drive this movement, to work harder than we’ve ever worked before and make a gigantic difference in this world! JoinTheImpact is about unifying as one and working together to bring about positive change. On November 4th, our opponents thought that they won. They thought we had fallen. On November 7th, a call to action was made and on November 15th our community WILL RISE! Moving forward, we will not step down, we will not be silenced, and we will not compromise our rights! JoinTheImpact will team up with other grass roots organizations like MillionGayMarch.com and other like-minded organizations that share our same goals – We will band together for rapid movement and ultimate coverage. Together with these organizations we are forming OFFER: the Organized Fellowship For Equal Rights. JoinTheImpact and other members of OFFER will help guide this movement, but we need you in the drivers seat! As I said on November 7th, we can not do this alone! This community is unifying and we need to act with one loud, proud, and strong voice!
Read the rest of this entry »

To everyone organizing and participating in Saturday’s INTERNATIONAL protest:

As Saturday’s events come closer, it’s time for that last minute check list to ensure that everything is covered:

1. Do you have permits? If you do not have permits yet, please work with your local LGBTQ organiziation to quickly obtain these. If you do not have a local LGBTQ organization, then please contact your local police and governement to get their help
2. Please be as transparent with the police as possible. If you, like many of us, have found that your event grew from 300 to 3000 overnight, don’t hesitate to tell the police about these new projections. They are there to protect you and shouldn’t be stretched thin.
3. Make sure you don’t bring anything that would be considered a weapon – I know this sounds like common sense, but few people realize that the sticks they use for their signs have to be no thicker than 1/4″ or else they are considered a weapon.
4. Do you have speakers? Every city is handling this differently and that is perfectly fine. If you want to have speakers but don’t yet, here are some suggestions: Local religious leaders that are also gay allies, local members of the media, local LGBTQ advocates, local radio personalities, you – are you the organizer? Then you should speak.
5. Find your protest location. Contact the local organizer if you wish to volunteer.
6. Organize your volunteers. Give everyone who you can manage a job to help you keep things moving. Gather emails (we will soon compile all of these with you).
7. Finally – I want to make sure that we are always always always focusing on peaceful demonstrations. Please remain respectful of your neighbors and reach across the aisle to our opponents (I’m sorry for that extremely trite phrase considering how it’s been hammered into our heads this election year). This is an amazing opportunity to continue the conversation and drive change. Please keep promoting peace, respect, and outreach.

There are always loose ends to tie up. Please utilize the resources made available to you at HERE, and those available to you from your local organizations joining in this movement!

Thanks!

The JoinTheImpact Team

Hello Organizers,

When we migrated to a new server, we lost some comments so I wanted to bring attention to one. Marriage Equality USA has created a Press Release that everyone can use on a local level to get out the word to local media. Please Please utilize this fantastic resource:

Comment:
We have a press release that can be sent to your local media – For a copy of it, please email marchforequalrights@gmail.com

This NEEDS to be sent out!!! It will help increase the impact!