What Do We Do Now?? An Answer to The Gay Marriage Bans

If you were one of the couples affected by the gay marriage bans voted into law in the states of Florida, Arizona, or California, our sincerest condolences go out to you and your family in this time.

The same if you were affected by the adoption ban in Arkansas. It's a bittersweet time in our history, with the country's first African American President in history set to take office; while chickens and cows won more rights than gay-people did in California. "Everyone is hurting and don't know what to do," said Kimberlee Woods at a protest Nov. 7th. She is the executive director of The Gay and Lesbian Center of Long Beach. "The overwhelming response is not surprising. People are tired of being relegated to the back of the bus", she said. You can bet that there are a lot of us here in California, around the nation, and across the world who are angry and ready to act, so here is a list of the things that we can all do to answer to the marriage bans and the fact that California just wrote discrimination into their Constitution, and other states have banned gay marriage as well. They will continue to do so unless we stand up united and fight for our rights. If not, who knows which rights of ours will be voted away next!

Here is a checklist of things for you to make sure to do to voice your disagreement with the gay marriage bans:

____ File a Lawsuit. Lawsuits are being filed on behalf of the couples who were married in California, and you should check to see if there are lawsuits you should be included in where you live. Filing a lawsuit when your civil rights have been violated is a duty you have to yourself and those who look up to you, and can have a huge impact on these discriminatory laws.

____ Sign Petitions. Voter signatures can work wonders, and you should sign every petition that comes your way that will aid in removing the gay marriage bans in Florida, Arizona, and California, and that will prevent gay marriage bans from occurring in other states as well. A petition you should sign right now is the petition to remove the tax exempt status of the Mormon Church which you can find here and the petition to Invalidate Prop 8 below. Petitions help change the legislature.

____ Donate to The Invalidate Prop 8 Campaign. Send a message to the Mormon Church, whose members raised more than $15 million to fund the deceitful advertising campaign for Proposition 8, the initiative that takes away the right to marry for same sex couples in California! Make a donation to support the legal organizations working to invalidate Proposition 8 and to fund grass-roots activities in support of full marriage equality. For every donation of $5 or more, the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center will send a postcard to President Thomas Monson’s office in Salt Lake City, acknowledging your donation in his name.

____ Attend a Local Protest. You can find a list of protests going on around the nation here, including a national cry to call for equal rights at the steps of your city hall on November 15th. Bring signs with valid points plus your camera or take video. Be friendly and peaceful to the media, make your point with your signs. Wear your walking shoes and bring a bottle of water. More info on the National Protest can be found at JoinTheImpact.com.

____ Join The Rainbow Dragon Network. The Rainbow Dragon Network is a list of organizations around the world who are ready to be called upon when members of the LGBT community are in need. If you lead a local LGBT outreach organization or program, please send your contact details to therainbowdragon@yahoo.com.

____ Display Signs and Graphics. On The Smoking Cocktail I saw that Rob at Scout Productions (producers of Queer Eye) made signs that are really catchy. If you are going to a protest, these are some cool signs to have. Here's a picture of Robin Tyler and Diane Olson, the original plaintiffs in the gay marriage lawsuit here in California with one:

You can also find more of these graphics to put on your web pages online at The Smoking Cocktail.

The Rainbow Dragon Network has also put together a graphic for LGBT bloggers here:

And if you are one of the couples affected by Prop. 8 here is a graphic for you to display:

____ Set Your Email to Away. Let your friends and family know that you are speaking out for equal rights and that you support the LGBT civil rights movement. Set your email, and MySpace messages, etc. to send or display a message to those who try to message you. An example message would be: "Please note that I am speaking out for equal rights because I support the LGBT civil rights movement. Please visit InvalidateProp8.org for more info."

____ Divert Gay Money from Our Opposers to Our Supporters Refuse to spend your money with anti-gay companies and shop at gay friendly establishments only. Do you have a gay friendly business?

Put The Rainbow Dragon Network logo on display to show your support of our community:

You can find out who the major supporters and opposers of Prop. 8 here, or you can find out who donated to the campaign in your area here.

____ Start Your Own Website or Blog. Sharing your voice with the world or maintaining a resource site for the LGBT community is one of the best ways you can help spread the message of equal rights around the world. We have a database of sites that are available and waiting for you to manage them!! Please contact Julie Phineas if this is something that interests you.

____ Help Our Campaign Land Celebrity Endorsements. Many celebrities have spoken out for us Madonna, Chelsea Lately, Darryl Stephens, Samuel Jackson, Melissa Etheridge and more. Celebrity visibility is important to keeping our issue in the spotlight! If you've heard about the theory of 6 degrees of separation that means that some of you out there know celebrities and can make contact with them. If you ever needed to call in a favor, NOW is the time to do so! Reach out through your network and get the message to celebrities that we need their help and support towards the LGBT civil rights movement. Send letters and emails to people like Oprah. Encourage them to help raise money and awareness for our community and let them know about this post so they know what else they can do to help!

____ Mass Mormon Resignation Planned. If you are a Mormon, consider joining the mass resignation planned. Visit this site to find resources and information about resigning and to post your letter of resignation.

____ Call for A Separation of Church and State. Donate to the Freedom from Religion Foundation started by people who are active in the call for a separation of church and state.

____ Go to A Church Where You Are Supported. If you are a church-goer (or not), attend local church services where you know that you and/or your family will be accepted and invited.

____ Join the Fight to Revoke the LDS Tax Exempt Status. Visit this website which gives out detailed information on how to do that.

You can find other churches that promoted the Yes on 8 campaign here.

____ Appeal to Obama by Writing Letters Write letters to your local government officials, which are usually listed in the front of your local Yellow Pages, and write letters to the national government officials including Barack Obama and The Supreme Court as well. Let them know about your disapproval of the gay marriage bans. Tell them you don't feel comfortable paying taxes to their institutions if they can't protect your civil rights from being voted away. Let them know our community is funneling our gay money to each other, and boycotting endorsers of Prop 8. We need to be clear NO CIVIL UNIONS. Civil unions are a separate but equal institution and we will only accept Civil Unions as a stepping stone. Our ultimate goal is equal rights for ALL people which means marriage for ALL people.

____ Keep the Conversation Going. Continue to discuss this issue online and with your family & friends. Don't let them forget about you! Appeal to other minorities such as African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, etc. We may have fought different fights, but we all want the same thing - to be treated equal under the law.

____ Participate in All Calls to Action. Make sure you are signed up for the email list of your local LGBT organization so you can get reports of any calls to action you might be able to take part in, especially those issued by The Rainbow Dragon Network.

*****Remember, this is not going to happen overnight; but with all of us working together and staying organized & united we can change history by establishing equal rights for the LGBT community locally, nationally, and globally. Forward this message to your network and re-post!