As you head into your Labor Day weekend, we encourage you to take time to celebrate both the contributions of the labor movement and the LGBTQ community’s contributions to the economic welfare of the country. Just imagine how much more stable the lives of LGBTQ Americans would be if a federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act were finally put into place.

I’ve been humbled and inspired by how many people, despite all odds, have volunteered to organize and take action out in the states for this campaign. I’d like to give an update on what’s happening across the country:

- Organizers in Indiana confronted Senator Lugar at a speaking event focusing on homeless youth, asking him to vote on an inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) and pointing out the fact that, because queer youth have no job protections in Indiana, many end up on the streets or in shelters.

- Illinois organizers are assembling an action for mid-September.

- There are several events being planned in California for next week, targeting Speaker Pelosi, Chairman Miller, and Rep. Calvert. We’ll report out more details after those events take place.

- Despite a wide array of obstacles, our lead organizer in Mississippi is reaching out to other courageous organizers to plan an action there soon.

- Oregon organizers are building a network of people to create an upcoming action to pressure Rep. Walden to vote for ENDA.

- Organizers in Pennsylvania are assembling plans for a sit-in there and are looking for more people to get involved.

There are other organizing efforts in the works across the country, and we’re honored and inspired that so many people are taking up the challenge to pressure their elected officials to follow through on promises to pass ENDA this year.

Thanks for your support, and please do feel free to sign up to take action by heading to www.getequal.org/endasummer.

Get Out! Get Active! GetEQUAL!

- Robin McGehee, Co-Founder and Director

- Tina Tchen, Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement

“We’re going to do everything in our power to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.”

- Tim Kaine, Democratic National Committee Chairman

“I want to do it, you convinced me, now build the mass to make me do it.”

- Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House

When GetEQUAL shut down Las Vegas Boulevard and staged a sit-in at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda last month, it forced both Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to address the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). Both have promised to pass ENDA — this year — in order to prevent LGBT people from being fired solely because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, but neither has yet felt the political will to do so.

We need your help to give Congress the push they need to pass ENDA this year.

Last week, while members of Congress are home for summer recess, we called on you to sign up to take action in your community. Hundreds of you signed up and have started to take action already, and we’ve started to hear from legislators that it’s having an impact — but we need more people to sign on to truly “make them do it.”

While local activists are working in their communities to organize folks to take action, we need to build a critical mass of folks online who stand behind them. We need you to get more people on board.

We need an ENDA strike force.

Join the “ENDA Summer” campaign today: www.getequal.org/endasummer

We know that our actions, as a community, have helped to keep ENDA from the cutting room floor, but we’ve got to create such a political groundswell for LGBT job protections that Congress has no other choice but to make good on their promises.

We’ll continue to give you ways to take action throughout the next few weeks until Congress gets back to DC from their summer recess — and we’ll report back on what GetEQUAL organizers and activists are hearing from the grassroots.

We need you to make clear to our elected representatives in Congress that we will no longer sit by while they break promise after promise to the LGBT community and our allies — and that it is no longer OK for our country to be a place where LGBT Americans can be fired simply because of who they are.

Join the “ENDA Summer” campaign today: www.getequal.org/endasummer

Our elected leaders are asking us to hold their feet to the fire and to make them pass the legislation that we know is on the right side of history. Join us in doing exactly that this summer!

GetOut! GetActive! GetEQUAL!

Robin McGehee

Co-Founder and Director, GetEQUAL

Contact: Brad Luna: (202) 812-8140 or brad@lunamediagroup.com

GetEQUAL Launches “ENDA Summer” Campaign,

Pressuring Congress to Keep 2010 Vote Promise

Grassroots Campaign Will Target Representatives and Senators in Key States

WASHINGTON – Today, GetEQUAL — a national, direct action lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization — announced the launch of its grassroots “ENDA Summer” campaign. The campaign, designed to target Representatives and Senators from several key states, will focus on “pull[ing] out all the stops to get ENDA passed in 2010.” The 2010 target date for passage comes from repeated promises by Democratic House and Senate leadership that a vote on ENDA would be scheduled this year. Recently, GetEQUAL released a timeline showing decades of broken promises and excuses from elected officials that have led to the stalling of any federal protections being in place for LGBT workers. The timeline can be viewed in its entirety at: www.getequal.org/endatimeline.

Earlier today, GetEQUAL launched its “ENDA Summer” campaign with a national email sent out to supporters across the country. In the email, GetEQUAL co-founder and director Robin McGehee wrote, “We’re heading into the end of summer, and there has been both an eerie silence from Congress and whispers of surrender from the White House about the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). Despite these challenges from our elected leaders, GetEQUAL is determined to pull out all the stops to get ENDA passed in 2010.”

McGehee went on to write in the email, “This isn’t a legislative issue — this is a moral issue. And we’re targeting legislators in specific states who have not yet shown the moral courage to support this legislation. We’re tired of legislators telling us that basic job protections for LGBTQ Americans are politically inconvenient — that some are more concerned with securing their own jobs than those of their constituents. We’re tired of being asked to wait — we’ve been waiting for 40 years.” To view today’s “ENDA Summer” campaign launch email, please go to: http://getequal.org/2010/08/enda-summer/.

To join in and be a part of “ENDA Summer” by making a commitment to take bold action for LGBT equality, please visit:  www.getequal.org/endasummer.

In addition to today’s email, GetEQUAL has identified local organizers in each state who will spearhead this campaign. Those who sign up to join the “ENDA Summer” campaign will submit their contact information and will be paired with a local organizer in their particular state in order to obtain more information about actions planned in that state and how they can get involved.

The 15 targeted states, and the corresponding representative(s) and/or senator(s) in each state are:

Arkansas:                     Sens. Blanche Lincoln & Mark Pryor; Reps. Marion Barry & Mike Ross

California:                    Speaker Nancy Pelosi; Reps. Ken Calvert & George Miller

Georgia:                       Reps. Jim Marshall & Sanford Bishop

Illinois:                         Reps. Daniel Lipinski & Jerry Costello

Indiana:                       Sens. Richard Lugar & Evan Bayh; Rep. Joe Donnelly

Louisiana:                   Rep. Charlie Melancon

Minnesota:                  Rep. Collin Peterson

Missouri:                     Rep. Ike Skelton

Mississippi:                Reps. Travis Childers & Gene Taylor

New Jersey:                Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen

North Carolina:          Reps. Heath Shuler & Mike McIntyre

Ohio:                            Senator George Voinovich

Oregon:                       Rep. Greg Walden

Pennsylvania:             Reps. Jim Gerlach & Christopher Carney

Tennessee:                 Reps. Lincoln Davis, John Tanner & Bart Gordon

In addition to this latest national “ENDA Summer” campaign, GetEQUAL has continued to make the passage of ENDA a cornerstone piece of its legislative priorities by pushing federal lawmakers to make good on their promises to the LGBT community that this 40-year-old piece of legislation would be scheduled for a vote in 2010. GetEQUAL has staged sit-ins in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Washington D.C. office, inside the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, and across Las Vegas Boulevard — all calling for the passage of ENDA in 2010. Those actions, along with two GetEQUAL-sponsored protests at Speaker Pelosi’s San Francisco district office, were designed to draw attention to the unfulfilled promises of both the Democratic House Speaker’s and Senate Majority Leader’s promises to the LGBT community that the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) would receive a vote before the legislative session ends in 2010. To view footage from the U.S. Capitol Rotunda protest, Las Vegas Boulevard protest, and others, go to: www.youtube.com/getequal.

GetEQUAL is a national, direct action lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization. Emphasizing direct action and people power, the mission of GetEQUAL is to empower the LGBT community and its allies to take action to demand full legal and social equality, and to hold accountable those who stand in the way.  For more information on GetEQUAL, please visit: http://www.getequal.org.  You can follow GetEQUAL on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/getequal, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/GetEQUAL, or on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/getequal.

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We’ve heard promises for 40 years that this legislation will be passed — but we have a moral obligation to speak out while it is still perfectly legal for employers in 29 states to fire someone for their sexual orientation and in 38 states to fire someone for their gender identity or expression.

Our elected leaders tell us that this legislation is “complicated” and we should continue waiting.

But while Members of Congress are back in their home districts trying to save their jobs, we are left waiting for legislation that would safeguard ours. There are millions of LGBTQ Americans who are at risk of losing their jobs, at a moment’s notice, because there are no federal job protections in place.

Join the “ENDA Summer” campaign today: http://www.getequal.org/endasummer

This isn’t a legislative issue — this is a moral issue. And we’re targeting legislators in specific states who have not yet shown the moral courage to support this legislation.

We’re tired of legislators telling us that basic job protections for LGBTQ Americans are politically inconvenient — that some are more concerned with securing their own jobs than those of their constituents. We’re tired of being asked to wait — we’ve been waiting for 40 years.

GetEQUAL has created a targeted list of legislators who we think need to hear from you in order to pass this legislation in 2010, as promised. [1] Every day that this legislation is not passed, there are LGBTQ Americans scared to be “out” at work, fearful of losing work stability, discriminated against for not conforming to gender stereotypes, or fired for acting “too gay.”

Join the “ENDA Summer” campaign today: http://www.getequal.org/endasummer

We appreciate your ongoing commitment to taking bold action to secure LGBTQ equality, and we look forward to connecting you with our local organizers on the ground in your state!

Get Out! Get Active! GetEQUAL!

Robin McGehee

Co-Founder and Director, GetEQUAL

http://pamshouseblend.com/diary/17055/photos-the-big-commit

NOTE FROM PAM: More photos and video will be added to this diary as they come in…BTW, guess who didn’t show up to her own Big Bus Tour finale…

[O]ne person was noticeably missing: Maggie Gallagher. Even though NOM’s website lists its chairman, Gallagher, as one of the speakers of the event, she was nowhere to be found on Sunday.When asked by Metro Weekly about Gallagher’s absence, Brian Brown, president of NOM, said Gallagher was initially listed as one of the speakers, but there was a conflict in her schedule. “She’s on vacation,” Brown said, adding that he did not know where Gallagher was taking her vacation.

Hundreds of LGBT people and straight allies met at Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC today to counter NOM’s message of hatred and bigotry with one of love and equality at the Big Commit.  Many local and national organizations – including GetEQUAL, Full Equality Now, the Courage Campaign, Freedom to Marry, and so many others – joined forces to “exchange vows with equality” – to promise to continue fighting for full federal equality for all people.  Speakers included Will Phillips, the child who became nationally famous after refusing to say the Pledge of Allegiance in class because not all people are treated equally; Karen Williams, the first openly gay female African-American comedian; and DC Councilmember David Catania, who was instrumental in passing DC’s marriage equality legislation.

There were two actions today – the Big Commit, and a Die-In organized by Alan Bounville and other members of Queer Rising, which went to the Capitol Building to directly protest NOM’s homophobia, and then to the White House to demonstrate against the horrors of hate crimes and the hate-filled words that lead to them.  Both actions were peaceful and powerful.  Despite using different tactics, we all spoke loudly and clearly in support of equality; we all won today.

Below are pictures from the Big Commit.  If you are a member of one of the organizations that helped organize the Big Commit, please feel free to use any of these photos as you see fit.  Apologies that the photos are in reverse chronological order: you can view all of the photos here.

Courtesy of MetroWeekly, video of the infamous carpetbagging hate monger “Bishop” Harry Jackson and the Arkansas elementary school student and marriage equality activist Will Phillips.

Let’s get Jackson over with, who spoke at the NOM rally and again tried to foment racial division to say that the people in favor of marriage equality are all “rich, gay, white bullies”. Gee, then who were all those black same-sex couples who strode up to marry once it was legal in DC, Harry?

Hundreds of people turned out for “The Big Commit,” an effort spearheaded by local DC organizers to fight back against the hatred and fear that the National Organization for Marriage has been spewing all summer. We, along with Kate Clinton, asked you for your sign suggestions, and GetEQUAL hosted a sign-making station where your recommendations were brought to life.

See a few of the event pictures here: www.getequal.org/bigcommit

But more important than the signage was the sense of community created at the event. Local organizers were joined by about 500 attendees to recommit ourselves to the fight for full equality. As Mara Kiesling from the National Center for Transgender Equality reminded us, “We know from history that we will always win, but we will have to fight.”

Will you join us? Will you join us in countering hate with love? In countering fear with hope? In countering apathy with passion?

We’re continuing to build a critical mass of people willing to take bold action for LGBTQ equality. Will you invite your friends to join the GetEQUAL community?

Click here to invite your friends via email, Facebook, or Twitter: www.getequal.org/bigcommit

Thank you so much for your ongoing support. We’ll soon be asking people to take action in their communities to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) and to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” — as well as ongoing social and cultural organizing — but we need as many people as possible to join us in that work and to commit to taking bold action.

Ask your friends to join us in the fight for full equality!

Get Out! Get Active! GetEQUAL!

Jay Carmona
Action Strategist and DC Organizer
GetEQUAL

I’ve teamed up with GetEQUAL to spread the word about NOM’s ridiculous hatred of LGBT folks, and to encourage as many people as possible to show up in DC on Sunday. If you can’t make it there yourself, suggest a few witty slogans for signs that folks could use — I’ll be watching TV to see if anyone uses any of my ideas!

You can watch my take on NOM and its cheerleading captain Maggie Gallagher, along with my own sign suggestions, by clicking on this video. And be sure to forward this along to your friends, so they can join in the fun of ridiculing NOM.

After watching the video, sign up to either attend the rally or suggest a witty sign that someone can hold up on your behalf. And start planning your outfit for the rally now — it’ll take a full two days to glue all your sequins on, and we want to dazzle Maggie on Sunday!

Kate Clinton
GetEQUAL Humorist Extraordinaire, www.kateclinton.com

Now NOM is heading to our nation’s capitol and we will be there to greet them. We’re joining local DC organizers, Freedom to Marry, Courage Campaign, Equality Across America, Full Equality Now DC, and other local organizers to respond to NOM’s hatred with messages of family, community, and love — with a generous helping of humor.

Regardless of whether you are able to get to DC this Sunday, we’ve created a way for your message to be heard.

Click here to attend the rally in DC or submit a sign idea: www.getequal.org/NOMrally

If you’re able to get to DC this Sunday for the big event (called “The Big Commit”), we’ll help connect you with the local organizers in the area who are putting everything together.

If you’re unable to get to DC, we want to help you participate virtually. One of the cornerstones of NOM’s events over the past few weeks — chronicled so eloquently by the NOM Tour Tracker [1] — has been the ridiculous signs they’ve brought with them. It’s been no surprise to us that equality supporters have bested their signs at each city.

So show us your creative, snarky, profound side — join us in DC or send us your best counter-message to NOM. If you were able to be there, what sign would you hold up? Send us a picture of your sign, and we’ll pass it along to folks who are organizing the event in DC for others to replicate — we’ll even post some of the best signs on our website!

Click here to attend the rally in DC or submit a sign idea: www.getequal.org/NOMrally

We can’t wait to see you in DC — or to see the creative sign ideas you submit. Together, our message of equality and dignity for all will be heard loud and clear!

Get Out! Get Active! GetEQUAL!

- Jay Carmona and the GetEQUAL team

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[1] NOM Tour Tracker: http://www.nomtourtracker.com (hat tip to the Courage Campaign)

GetEQUAL to Hold Press Conference Call in Advance of First Board Meeting
Call to Preview Upcoming Board Meeting; Provide Organizational Update from Last Month’s Retreat

WASHINGTON – Next week, GetEQUAL — a direct action lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization — will hold their first board of directors meeting.  The day before the meeting, GetEQUAL will hold a press conference call.  This call, geared toward members of the media, will take place Tuesday, August 10, and will provide an update from last month’s staff retreat, as well as the selection of the organization’s board of directors.  Tuesday’s telephonic press conference is scheduled for an hour, from 2:00 – 3:00 pm (ET) with a bulk of the time reserved for Q&A from reporters and bloggers on the call.

“As we look forward to next week’s first, official meeting of our board of directors, we feel it is critical to the success of the organization that we provide the LGBT community with an update on the direction of GetEQUAL going forward,” said Heather Cronk, managing director of GetEQUAL.  “We look forward to being able to communicate to the LGBT community, via our dedicated LGBT press corps, the exciting new announcements for the future of GetEQUAL, and to come one step closer in fulfilling our commitment to transparency and openness.”

MEDIA ADVISORY

WHO: Robin McGehee, Co-Founder of GetEQUAL, and Heather Cronk, Managing Director of GetEQUAL
WHAT: Press Conference Call
WHEN: Tuesday, August 10th
HOW: To join the call on Tuesday, members of the media should go to http://bit.ly/ci4D7V. Once on this website, you will have the option to either sign on with a unique code in order to be identified to ask a question, or to sign on with a “Quick PIN” (under Advanced Options) if you would just like to listen in. Through the course of the call, you will be able to “raise your hand” via either computer or phone, to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to ask questions.

GetEQUAL is a national, direct action lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization.  Emphasizing direct action and people power, the mission of GetEQUAL is to empower the LGBT community and its allies to take action to demand full legal and social equality, and to hold accountable those who stand in the way.  For more information on GetEQUAL, please visit: http://www.getequal.org You can follow GetEQUAL on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/getequal, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/GetEQUAL, or on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/getequal

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