Join the Impact

Yesterday families across the country came together to give thanks for their many blessings. Unfortunately at a table in Syracuse, NY a seat went unfilled. A family is in pain and mourning this holiday season due to an unspeakable act, which unless you read lots of blogs, are from the Syracuse area or have a Google alert set up you probably haven’t heard about because it hasn’t been reported in the national media. Read the rest of this entry »

We have a lot of quick updates and resource information that we hope you’ll peruse over your 4 day weekend (for those of you working on Black Friday and the weekend, thank you for braving the storm!) Read the rest of this entry »

• NEXT EVENT: February 12th Marriage Counter Actions
• Obama Signature Drive EXTENDED to FEB 16th
• ACTION ALERT: What should we do next?  Share your ideas HERE
• JoinTheImpact Will be at the NGLTF’s Creating Change Conference
• Did you organize an event for JTI? Interested in organizing in the future? Sign up here

Gus Van Sant’s MILK opens today in select theaters and then nationwide next week (Dec. 5th). This film commemorates a man of great stature who many view as an icon of the gay rights movement. Harvey Milk helped our community gain visibility in a new way and his life is one to be remembered and respected. To drive attention to this important movie, drive attendance, and raise awareness about the LGBTQ community, we hope to make MILK one of the highest grossing movies of the December 5th weekend. Read the rest of this entry »

How are those conversations going?

I must admit that even I haven’t had one a day since we gave out the call to action to have a respectful conversation every day with someone who thinks differently than I do about LGBT rights (which MAY have something to do with the fact that I’m always on email, the phone or in a meeting for JTI since all of this started). Read the rest of this entry »

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 »

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!
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