Archive for the ‘videos’ Category
Visibility in the Face of Rick Warren
Take a STAND on January 10th
Across the country in hundreds of cities, we came together on December 20th in vigil. This was a protest in the spirit of the holiday season, and one that helped us reach 1 Million people with our message of equality. While we didn’t change the hearts and minds of all 1 Million, we did change the lives of many. This highly successful event grew our base, and that growth will show with our next goal: 1 Million Signatures.
On January 10th, 2009 we ask that you join us to unite again! This movement WILL NOT BE WON WITHOUT VISIBILITY. 50 Cities across the country have already jumped on board to organize. And that’s just in a few days of planning. We got 300 cities with 1 week of notice on November 15th. We can easily exceed that this time around. So, on January 10th, we ask that you join us in your city for one or all of the following events:
- A protest in your area to bring attention to DOMA and the promise that Barack Obama made to repeal DOMA.
- Organize a transportation unit in your city to get people to the closest DOMA protest
- Canvas your city to get signatures for our Open Letter to Barack Obama.
In response to President-elect Barack Obama’s “Open Letter to the Gay Community,” we ask that you join us in signing our “Open Letter to Barack Obama,” to be revealed soon. It’s time we show the government how numerous we are. We need to show our impact and we’re going to take it to the White House!
The work done over this weekend will help us achieve and exceed this important goal. Help us get 1 Million signatures, and we’ll get it the letter in Obama’s hands.
Light Up the Night – Videos From Around the Nation
If anyone asks you what JoinTheImpact is, you tell them “You’re looking at it.” YOU ARE THE IMPACT. Last night, it was YOU that stood up and demanded change! It was YOU who said that you will not be silenced anymore. It was YOU who touched 1 million people with the message of equality. YOU lit up the night! YOU are this movement. YOU are the hope for equality. YOU ARE THE IMPACT!
Watch Your Impact:
News Stories:
Jon Stewart Has 1 of his 10 Conversations
10 Conversations could change the world. Over the next 10 months, JoinTheImpact will continue to encourage each and everyone of you to have 10 respectful and heartfelt conversations about equality. You won’t change the mind of every person out there, but you’ll touch the minds and hopefully hearts of all. Although Mike Huckabee didn’t have a miraculous realization and suddenly join in the cause of Equal Civil Marriage, he did at least join in the conversation. He listened to the other side; to our side. And, although his mind wasn’t changed, someone watching may have changed their mind. This is why OUR VISIBILITY is so important! If we continue to come out by the Hundreds of Thousands and then the MILLIONS Day after Day, Week after Week, and Month after Month… then this conversation will continue. If we sit back and hope that only a few people will keep this going, then we risk a huge loss. Our allies are out there ready to join at our sides and fight this fight. Let’s continue to give them a reason to talk about one simple dream: A Truly Equal America! JTI and dozens (if not hundreds) of other organizations are working together to keep our community visible. Please show this world how all of us can MAKE AN IMPACT! Join us on December 20th to Light up the Night for Equal Rights! We need organizers in many cities still (and JTI has an amazing support system to help you organize)! Let’s not let the holiday’s overshadow our visibility. This is our time! This is our movement! And this is OUR OPPORTUNITY to continue this AMAZING CONVERSATION OF EQUALITY!
365Gay.com Breaks Down Calling in Gay
Tomorrow, across the country, people will Call in Gay and dedicate their day toward volunteering! Where will you be tomorrow? What will you be doing? A great deal of people are hopping on board and rumors are starting to spread about which industry could be impacted the most. Equality groups around the nation are planning events to gain signatures for marriage equality. The Courage Campaign is going full force working toward 1 million signatures to repeal Prop 8. And volunteer efforts are being led at local homeless shelters, retirement centers, and venues for our Food Drive.
Here’s what David Craig (DWAG creator) has to say about Day Without a Gay – Shedding some light on the main question: Why Day Without a Gay.
Can’t call in Gay? You can still join in making a HUGE Impact.
Some of us are extremely lucky to work in a pro-LGBTQ company. People are out and proud and want to continue their impact at work. Others live in one of the 30 States where you can still be fired based on your sexual orientation. We encourage you not to risk calling in if you fear for your job.
That said, here are 5 ways you can make an impact tomorrow:
1. Volunteer your time and services after work
2. Do not buy anything
3. Do not watch TV or use your cell phone
4. Do not go online (yup, don’t even visit this site tomorrow)… Online advertising is everywhere and a simple page load could cause money to be spent.
5. Do not buy lunch (and don’t go out today to get what you need for lunch tomorrow), find something you already have and pack your lunch.
Tools of the Week
In an effort to continue the conversation of equality, the JoinTheImpact team would like to provide you with a weekly set of “tools.” Each week, we will pick from the MANY websites, announcements, blog posts, videos, etc. that have sprung up, and let you know about them. Last week, we did this by providing a Thanksgiving Cornucopia of Knowledge. Here’s some more food for thought:
The NGLTF’s Creating Change Conference is Coming up and JoinTheImpact will be there! Creating Change is an amazing conference that personally changed my life when I was 19. This is a fantastic opportunity to meet with other members of the LGBTQ community and work toward equality! Creating Change offers many great scholarships to get you to this important conference. Please take a look at their site and find out how you can attend!
Marriage Equality USA Needs our help with a very important survey.
Our organization, Marriage Equality USA, has created an on-line survey to collect input on California’s Prop 8 campaign and the status of marriage equality in the other 49 states. We also a series of questions to help us evaluate public education strategies and messaging based on their level of effectiveness within their local communities. Finally, we’ve asked for personal stories that will not only allow us to better describe the impact of being denied the freedom to marry, but the harm that comes through these initiative and/or ballot measures processes.
Here is an AMAZING way to turn the ignorance of the Fred Phelps movement into outreach for the LGBTQ community: The Phelps-A-Thon
Here’s a great film that you could pass around from: http://www.loveisloveshortfilm.com/
Prop 8 The Musical
In a country founded on the separation of church and state, the fact that we are denied equal protections under the law based on a religious belief, is nothing short of hypocrisy. And with anything hypocritical, someone always sees a way to shed a little humor on the situation that keeps the conversation going at full force. Thank you Marc Shaiman and all of the amazing talent that went into this video.
View the Press Release Here.
Our Fight on Film
This weekend, I saw MILK. If there is nothing else you do next weekend, please please please go see MILK. We all deserve to know our history. Too many people do not even know what the Stonewall Riots were, or WHY they occurred. Few know about those who fought for the rights that we now have. We need to educate the country about our struggle, and that begins with educating ourselves and our allies. Read the rest of this entry »
Giving Thanks
Let us take a moment and give thanks – to those that came before us, those that are here now, and those that will come after us in this amazing fight for HUMAN RIGHTS.