I thought I should provide some variety in my blog about something other than Prop 8, but, seeing as Kevin and I are devoting some time four out of the seven days this week to the No campaign, its all that is running through our mind. We are pretty obsessed. Both of us did some office work this past Sunday where we called volunteers to remind them about their shifts. We were both inspired by the many volunteers who have committed several days a week to help. Some people are coming in every day! So, I decided to also help out on Tuesday night. Then, we were a part of the “visibility” campaign this morning.
This morning, we met with some folks at 7:00 am to work one of the MUNI stations (at Montgomery) to educate people about the issue and to get them to come to rally being held Saturday with our Mayor Gavin Newsom and some other local politicians fighting for the cause. Most of the people were very supportive, as usual. There were also a few opposing views who yelled stuff at us. One guy yelled, “Yes on 8″. I yelled back with “Its discrimination”. He responded with “Its not normal”. It ended there… what a douche bag.
Kevin shared a really nice story with me that brought a few tears to my eyes. He said one gentleman came up to him, pointed to his wedding ring and said, “Thank you for supporting my rights”. That’s what we are fighting for… just so people can marry the person that they love.
Tomorrow, some friends, coworkers, Kevin, and myself will join some No on 8 supporters at the Ferry Building during the Farmer’s Market to bring more visibility and hopefully get more donations and volunteers.
A lot has been going on in the past few weeks that I haven’t caught up on blogging, just when I suddenly have all kinds of friends reading this blog! Whoops! I recently sent out an email to everyone I knew in CA or who had ties to family and friends in CA to describe why I was voting No on Proposition 8 and why I thought they should too. I got an overwhelming number of responses in support of the cause. Some people decided to do more for the campaign, at least one person felt more compelled to vote after hearing about the issue and at least one person switched from a ‘Yes’ to a ‘No’ vote (Thank you, TC, you made my week!). On the other hand, I did know that some people would not agree with my stance and I did get one response back stating the case for the other side. While I don’t believe in this argument, I am open to a healthy debate about it.
Kevin has also been more motivated and wants to volunteer, so, we are going to do some phone banking tonight. I would rather just sit and do office work for the No campaign, but, Kevin felt that we could make the biggest difference by calling people. (Ackk… I’m scared to call people, I have to admit).
In other, totally unrelated political news… some good friends got married last weekend. It was a jam packed weekend with salsa lessons (Friday), the wedding at Grace Cathedral (Sat.), a picnic (Sunday) and wine tasting in Napa (Monday). I went to everything! I think I need a vacation now. Only these friends who have one of the craziest engagment stories would aim so high to plan so many events for a weekend. Planning a wedding seems like enough madness for me! I helped out with a small detail of the wedding which was to format individual thank you notes for each guest. Yes… they wrote 150 unique thank you’s for each guest that you would find at your seat at the reception. They did this in the last week of wedding planning. This is the time when I was so nervous and busy, I’m sure I couldn’t get matching shoes on… but, they added this task (which is very cute) to their long list of to-dos. They have also been rehearsing a salsa first dance for quite a long time. Here is a short excerpt of their fun dance. Rae’s dress was lovely and perfect, btw. Bravo! (sorry for the fuzziness of the video, this is from my digital camera)
Lastly, I spent this past Saturday morning at “Yogapalooza” which was a 90 mins. session of Vinyasa yoga outside in the Marina green overlooking the Golden Gate bridge. While it was a bit chilly and hard to balance when you are standing on grass, it was a fun thing to try in the city. The price was also right, it was free and I got a free yoga mat.
I stepped WAY out of my comfort zone tonight and decided to volunteer with the “street team” for the No on Prop 8 campaign. Prop 8 is the ballot measure in California trying to ban gay marriage by adding an amendment to California’s constitution defining marriage as between a man and woman.
While we were working in the Castro at 18th and Market street (the gay heart of the city), it was still tough to walk around with a clipboard and try to get volunteers to sign up to help in our phone banks and to collect donations for the cause. When I first signed up, I thought that I would just need to man a table in the Castro, how hard could it be? But, it turned out that we would be walking around talking to people rather than hiding behind the security of a table.
At first, I found it pretty difficult… you get a lot of “I’m in a rush” or “I’m not interested”, but, there were enough friendly people who wanted to help. I got three people to sign up for phone shifts and made $275 for the campaign. (Most of that from one $250 donation). I even appreciated the people who simply thanked me for volunteering to work for this cause.
Afterwards, I felt great for actually doing something for this cause that I believe is a Civil Rights issue. I wasn’t just complaining anymore. Both Kevin and I have made our first political donations … ever… this past year for Barack Obama and for the No on Prop 8 campaign.
If anyone else feels strongly about this issue, I think its really important to donate at least 3 hours of your time. They don’t have enough phone volunteers and they have raised less money than the other side. Donate! Volunteer! or do both! The headquarters is in SF at Market and Noe.
Posted by jlafferty 
Posted by jlafferty 
Posted by jlafferty 
