San Francisco Event: Town Hall meeting on Monday, April 13

Join Equality California and San Francisco LGBT Center this coming Monday, April 13, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. for a town hall meeting.

Location:
San Francisco LGBT Center
1800 Market Street
San Francisco, CA

This is your opportunity to hear about how local and statewide organizations are working for LGBT equality and to secure the freedom to marry.

Kate Kendell and Shannon Minter of the National Center for Lesbian Rights will discuss the legal challenges to Prop 8, Geoff Kors of Equality California will give an update on pending legislation to advance LGBT rights, and representatives of a number of groups will discuss the important work they are doing here and across the state, including: API Equality, Our Family Coalition, Marriage Equality USA, the ACLU of Northern California, and Equality California.

The last half of the town hall will be an open-forum discussion about next steps, both on the day of the Supreme Court decision and in the overall quest to secure our full equality.

Join us and let your voice be heard!

A message from Marriage Equality USA

Fellow Marriage Equality Supporters:

While we wait anxiously here in California for the Supreme Court to issue their decision, we celebrate the unanimous decision in Iowa, the override of the Governor’s Veto in Vermont and the unanimous vote to recognize marriage equality in D.C. which gives us hope that California will restore marriage equality soon too! No matter what the decision from the court, momentum is on our side, and we must be prepared.

TAKE ACTION ON DAY OF DECISION

Win or lose, we want to provide our community with an outlet to express their emotions, show support for marriage equality, and contextualize this moment within the larger civil rights movement.

The Evening that the Court rules on Prop 8
5-6pm Pre-March Rally @ San Francisco City Hall
6-7pm March to MLK Memorial at Yerba Buena Gardens
7-8:30 Pre-March Rally @ Yerba Buena Gardens (4th@Mission)

The Court provides 24 hours notice of when it will issue its decision. Typically the Court has issued its decisions on Thursday and Mondays. The court will rule anytime in the next 60 days. The last possible date is June 3rd , but the rumor is that the Court will rule earlier on this decision - no one knows for sure.

We are looking for couples, families, advocates, single folks, youth, and others to speak out on Decision Day and share their story. In particular we are looking for couples able to be at the California Supreme Court steps at 10:30am as the decision is handed out. If interested, please contact media at marriageequality.org with your name(s), phone number, who you are (i.e. couple, student, advocate, etc…), ethnicity, and languages spoken.)

Finally, as we move forward in the fight, regardless of the decision, we will need to be proactive and share our stories and let people into our lives wherever we can. Therefore, Marriage Equality USA is continuing to compile a list of any and all upcoming events (meetings, festivals, fairs, conferences, etc…).

If you know of any events, small or large, that we should target to get the word out and continue to build support, please contact your local chapter leaders. Visit www.marriageequality.org for more information.

Vermont Rules for Marriage!

Vermont Rules!

"But today, Vermont proved, once again, what we all know--that marriage equality makes a tremendous difference for gay and lesbian couples and families, and those who love and care about them. And for the rest of society, it's not a big deal. In fact, I am positive if you were to poll Vermonters today, a strong majority would say they are proud to be the first state to have passed marriage through their legislature and enacted into law.

For us in California, this shows that anything short of marriage—whether it is called civil unions, domestic partnerships or anything else —doesn't suffice. Full equality is marriage, plain and simple."

- Marc Solomon,
Marriage Director, Equality California

Read more here: http://ca-ripple-effect.blogspot.com/2009/04/vermont-rules.html