National Week of Initiative

This coming week (November 1st–8th) is being known as the National Week of Initiative among the LGBTI activist community. What this means is that we are asking everyone who supports equality for all Americans to get out and have our voices heard. . .

I know when I first started getting active I was always wondering what can just one person do. As time went on I have developed a list of things that one person can do to help out.

1.) Write a hand written letter to BOTH your state and federal Representative and Senator. My friend Nik of JTIC said at the Report-Back from Washington D.C. meeting that if we send hand written letters rather then e-mails it helps personalize the movement. Also if you do not know who your Representatives are check out www.votesmart.org.
2.) Contact your local media be it television, newspaper, magazine, radio or even podcast. Write them a letter or e-mail and voice your opinion on the issue of full equality for everyone. Let them know they have viewers, readers or listeners who do care about this issue and want to spread the word.
3.) Have a face-to-face with your local representative. If you want take a few people from your district with you so they can see that they have delegates in their district who support equality for all people.
4.) Have coffee or dinner with your neighbors, friends and/or family and discuss the importance of full equality for everyone.
5.) Create a viral video and post it to sites like youtube, facebook or on a blog. Your video can be from just a slideshow with text and music, to changing the words to a song to make it about equality and perform it live on the streets.
6.) Host a movie screening night at your house with friends and family. Watch movies like “Milk”, “Solder’s Girl” or “Laramie Project” and then discuss the importance of these films and the struggle that all LGBTI people still face today.
7.) Find a group or organization and get involved. There are a tons of local groups one can get involved with. Here are links to a few local Chicago groups;
A. http://www.jointheimpactchicago.com
B. http://www.genderqueerchicago.blogspot.com
C. http://www.LGBTChange.org

As for me I can tell you that I have already began to write my handwritten letters to both my federal and state Representative and Senator. I am involved with the wonderful group Join The Impact Chicago. I am going to be creating a press release comment about my blog to send to podcast and other forms of media. I would make a video, but the last one I made caused more embarrassment then anything. But trust me, I will be out there with fellow activist canvassing after work, where needed. I will be tabling if JTIC decided that is what we need to do.

Before I go I want to discuss one other huge thing happening next week. On Tuesday November 3rd residents of the state of Maine will vote on Proposition 1, a ballot measure that could take away the right of same-sex couples to marry in that state. Join The Impact Chicago is hosting a Proposition 1 Rally on Thursday, November 5th, 2009 from 5:30pm till 6:30pm at the James R. Thompson Center in Chicago. Please show your support for full equality in all 50 states and come out to the rally. It will either be a celebration or a protest depending on the outcome of Prop 1. Yet either way, it is a great way to network and continue our fight. Remember, the march on Washington D.C. was not the end of the battle, it was only the beginning. For more information check out the event page on Facebook… http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=199172736752&index=1


MJ