Florida’s Prop 2, California’s Prop 8, Arizona’s Prop 102: You know what they are. You’ve given money to fight them. (If you haven’t, stop right now and click one of the links above, donate, then continue reading.)
There are exactly two weeks to go now, folks. What else can you do, especially if you are a busy parent or don’t live in one of these states, to stop any or all of these measures from passing? How can you keep informed and help spread the word? Here are some ideas, in no particular order. Please feel free to add more in the comments.
- Remind your friends and family to vote. More importantly, if they have transportation or childcare issues, help connect them with someone who can give them a ride or watch the kids while they vote.
- Friend the No organizations on Facebook: 2, 8, 102 or My Space: 2, 8, 102.
- Friend them on YouTube, and pass along their videos: 2, 8. No On 102 does not seem to have its own YouTube page, but lists supportive videos here.
- Follow them on Twitter: 2, 8. (No On 102 doesn’t seem to be on Twitter.)
- Post about the Props on your own blog and social networking pages, or comment on someone else’s.
- E-mail everyone you know, and post to listservs you’re on.
- Write a letter to the editor of your local paper. Even if you don’t live in Arizona, California, or Florida, you can explain why these are crucial matters for citizens everywhere.
- E-mail or phone your members of Congress and local officials. Works best in the states with the props.
- Buy bumper stickers, yard signs, and other items: 2, 8, 102. Alternatively, print your own: 2, 8, 102. (Every parent should have a pack of full-page blank sticker sheets anyway, for fun with the kids, IMHO.)
- Talk with everyone you know. Don’t let a conversation go by without mentioning why defeating these props matters to you and your family. Even if you don’t live in Arizona, California, or Florida, you never know who might have other friends or relatives there.
Thanks for this – and all your help fighting against these!
Just wanted to add one thing: don’t forget about us here in Arkansas. There is an act (Initiated Act 1) coming up on the ballot here that would ban any unmarried couples from fostering or adopting children.
It is a civil rights issue, as are all of these, but it is also a child welfare issue. The last thing we need is to have fewer good homes for children in state custody. This is the first time this issue has come up for a referendum in the US. If it passes here it may well be copied in other states.
Please take note! You can get more info (and donate to help out) at:
http://arkansasfamiliesfirst.org/
and
http://www.artisticrevolution.org/content/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11&Itemid=27
Good point, Dykeyarkie! Looks like things are moving in the right direction in Arkansas, but as you say, Act 1 is still a scary measure that could have awful consequences.
Thanks, Mombian, for compiling an excellent list of all this activism.
Before you read any further, please pick up the phone right now and call Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s top two political consultants, who serve as his eyes and ears and help him decide which battles to fight. Call Julie Soderlund and Adam Mendelsohn and tell them you want the governor to keep the pledge he made in April to fight the anti-gay-marriage ballot initiative.
Here’s the contact info:
Julie Soderlund
Phone: 916-551-1383
Email: jsoderlund@wilsonmillercom.com
Adam Mendelsohn
Phone: 916-444-1380
Email:
amendelsohn@mercuryllc.com
When you call those numbers, you’ll get a live receptionist. Please be polite and to the point. Tell them you want to reach Soderlund and Mendelsohn to have them convey to the governor that his muscle and voice are needed to defeat Prop 8. Leave your name and number, and request a call back. Or send a similarly polite email.
The Arizona “NO” on Prop. 102 website has a page dedicated to all of the major media in Arizona and a link to each of their respective websites to facilitate letters to the editor.
Check it out here
California – Vote “NO” on Prop. 8!
Arizona – Vote “NO” on Prop. 102! AGAIN!
Florida – Vote “NO” on Amendment 2!
Connecticut – Vote “NO” on Question 1!
Thank you, Dana! I’ve wanted to compile something like this, but have been too much the “chicken with the proverbial head cut off” to be able to sit still enough to do it.
Folks might be interested in No on 8’s fantastic Spread the Word form, which enables people to customize a great message, and then send it to their whole address book.
I second mpetrelis’ remarks, too. Arnold has been deafeningly silent, when he early on vowed to resist this proposition.
VOTE NO on PROP 8