June 3, 2008

Marriage Equality Update: What YOU Can Do to Help (YouTubers Especially Take Note!)

At least one million people in California detest Buffy and me to the very core of our collective being. The Keep Sapph and Buffy Second-Class Citizens Forever Initiative qualified for the November ballot.

What we’re doing about it: I’ve already registered with Equality California to volunteer (for what, I’m not sure yet, but no doubt they’ll let me know).

In the meantime, I’ve created a brand-new YouTube group, Marriage Equality. I’ll be talking more (a lot more) about this, but for now, here’s the group description (please join, even if you don’t make videos — we need as many people as possible to participate in the discussions, and to spread the word!):

The Marriage Equality Group is focused on bringing names, faces, and personal stories to the battle for gay and lesbian marriage equality, with a specific focus on defeating the November, 2008, anti-gay marriage ballot initiative in California. Protecting our right to marry in California is essential to winning the right to marry throughout the other 48 states (Massachusetts, of course, is already on-board), and eventually on the federal level (with, we hope, a ripple effect throughout the world).

We want YOU, no matter where you live, partnered or not, planning to marry in California or not, to submit a video explaining how the right to marry impacts YOUR life. What will it mean to you to finally be able to marry legally? How has your inability to marry negatively impacted your life? What would you say to the anti-gay forces who are trying to strip gay and lesbian Californians of their right to marry — and keep YOU in permanent second-class citizenship?

You don’t have to be gay to submit a video — our straight allies are our strength, and contributions from straight friends and family in favor of marriage equality are invaluable. If you have a gay sibling, child, cousin, etc., you can fight for his/her right for full equality. WE NEED YOU.

People in Massachusetts, we want to hear from you: Tell us how the world _hasn’t_ ended since same-sex marriage was legalized in 2004. People in New Jersey: Tell us how civil unions are NOT equal to full marriage rights, and how the lack of the very word “marriage” has been an obstacle in obtaining health coverage, etc. People in Virginia: Tell us how the Commonwealth’s draconian ban on all contracts between unmarried people has affected you.

International videomakers are MOST welcome to join. We would like very much to get the unique perspectives from countries where same-sex marriage is legal — and where it’s illegal. Let’s hear from the Netherlands, Canada, Spain, South Africa (none of which has sunk into the sea since same-sex marriage was legalized) — and from Australia (where a federal anti-gay constitutional amendment has thwarted nearly every effort to establish even the most basic civil unions) and Jamaica (the most violently homophobic nation on the planet).

You can sit down and just talk to the camera, or be creative with animation, original music, etc. Make it funny, make it serious, make it sad — just KEEP THE MESSAGE POSITIVE! You want to make your case for marriage to the people who are going to decide our fate and yours — the voters. So don’t browbeat the anti-gay crusaders — you’re not going to change their minds anyway. Think of how you would present the vital need for marriage equality to an undecided voter, as if you were sitting down to discuss the issue over a cup of coffee. Think PERSUASION, not “attack.”

Avoid profanity (think in terms of U.S. prime-time TV standards), and do not display any nudity (even in cartoon form). We’re not prudes — we just want to be able to present your work to as wide and general an audience as possible.

You are more than welcome to submit more than one video, as long as all videos fit these guidelines. All YouTube policies and copyright restrictions apply.

Keep your video(s) relatively short (remember, people respond best to sound bites) and to the point.

Your video should be able to stand on its own without supplemental information — that is, each video should be able to get the point across without explanation or links to other videos or external materials.

As each new video is approved for the group, it will be showcased on the moderator’s Web site (and, of course, we will encourage every group member to publicize each new video).

Ultimately, the moderator will excerpt some of the most poignant moments from all videos and compile them into a literal “group video,” bringing attention to both our cause, and to each individual videomaker. (Of course, you will retain the original copyright to your video, and receive full credit in the final “group video,” including your Web URL and/or YouTube channel if you’d like.) This “group video” will be released in early October, 2008, so that it has at least four weeks before the November election to go viral. November will be here before you know it (and we’d like to be able to feature new videos throughout the summer), so get started now, and submit your video ASAP!

The moderator reserves the right to accept or reject any video. No anti-gay material will be accepted (so, equality opponents, don’t bother wasting your time trying to use this group to promote your anti-gay P.O.V.)

By participating in this group, you retain all rights to your video, on the condition that you grant the moderator of this group the right to use excerpts from your video(s) for use in a longer compilation.

Right now, what else can you do? Go to EQCA and:

* Make a donation. This campaign is going to cost us millions.

* Volunteer. We need to talk to people out the importance of protecting the fundamental rights of all Californians.

* Come out. Tell your friends and family how hurtful this amendment is and how it affects you personally.

We are confident we will win in November — but we simply can’t do it without your help.

In solidarity,

Geoff Kors
Executive Director
Equality California Issues PAC

P.S. You can now register your wedding or give a gift in the name of someone you know who is getting married. All money raised will go to defeat the ballot initiative. Visit www.eqca.org/wedding for more information.