Buried in a note to supporters of Equality California on what Executive Director Roland Palencia describes as a new “breakthrough” project is the announcement that EQCA will not be participating in any return to the ballot in 2012 to overturn Prop. 8:
“This is exciting work, but it also means that given what we know about public opinion and the significant challenges of the current political and economic climate, Equality California will not lead an effort to return to the ballot in 2012 to overturn Proposition 8.”
Asked earlier about his reaction should EQCA decide not to go back to the ballot, Tom Watson, Acting Executive Director of Love Honor Cherish, told Frontiers:
“If EQCA abdicates their responsibility to fight for equality for the LGBT Community in California and to honor their prior commitments, Love Honor Cherish will fill the void. If they move forward as they should, we will work hand-in-hand with them.”
Frontiers is working on a more complete report on this and other issues involving EQCA. In the meantime, here’s Palencia’s email:
I wanted to write this personal letter to share an important announcement with you about our vision and work for Equality California in the coming year.
Today, Equality California announced the launch of an exciting new public education project called “The Breakthrough Conversation,” which is designed to identify and overcome the psychological, cultural and emotional triggers related to LGBT people and kids that drive down societal and political support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality—including the freedom to marry.
Our focus on this cutting-edge work—some of the most advanced in the movement to date—is critical, because although public opinion in support of marriage equality has grown since 2008, recent polls conducted by EQCA indicate that we still have much more work to do.
For decades, opponents of equality have used prejudicial and dehumanizing myths about LGBT people being a harm to kids and families as a weapon against us in the legislature, in the courts and at the ballot. Until we have and effective ‘Breakthrough Conversation’ about this core issue in the public sphere, we will continue to confront major societal barriers to securing full and lasting equality, including marriage equality.
This is exciting work, but it also means that given what we know about public opinion and the significant challenges of the current political and economic climate, Equality California will not lead an effort to return to the ballot in 2012 to overturn Proposition 8. (Read more about our decision.)
This was a very, very difficult decision. Every day that LGBT Californians are denied the freedom to marry the person they love, same-sex couples and their families continue to experience real harm and discrimination. It’s wrong and correcting that wrong is a fundamental part of our movement.
In addition to our public education efforts around marriage equality and the core “Breakthrough Conversation,” EQCA will continue to serve as the “community’s legislative lobbyist” and close inequality gaps still existing in California law; protect the FAIR Education Act through electoral activism if necessary; implement existing laws to reform institutions that impact the daily lives of LGBT people; and support pro-equality candidates and legislators to protect existing gains and advance full equality. As part of this work, EQCA has recently hired a new Field Manager for the San Francisco Bay Area and is working to hire a Deputy and Political Director who will provide significant strategic direction to put these efforts to work on the ground across the state.
We look forward to partnering with you as we continue this march toward justice. We may not be taking our fight to the ballot right now, but make no mistake–our fight continues. And you are a critical part of that fight for full and lasting equality in California.
Warmly,
Roland Palencia
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I can’t believe this. How many fundraisers have they had to raise money to get marriage equality in CA? How many times have I been asked on the street to support by donating? How many emails have we gotten asking for money? If they want to run a bunch of PSAs, can’t they do that at the same time? If this was all they were going to do, why haven’t they been doing it for the last 3 years since Prop 8 past? I think they are just playing it safe so that the organization can continue instead of doing things that are bold but risky. Thank goodness for AFER.
Seriously. Yes, money is important, but you don’t hit pause for EIGHT YEARS on a civil rights movement while you collect cash. It’s absurd and does absolutely nothing to win you (ie, us, as a community) any respect. And I say eight years because unless the Supreme Court decides to rule Prop 8 unconstitutional, rather than find some way to sidestep the issue the way it usually does, we won’t have a good time to bring this up again until a general election, when we have progressives mobilized. That’s 2016.
Ridiculous. What is EQCA good for?
ok, so a group that is pretty bad at holding breakthrough conversations
with the gay community they claim to represent, now wants the rest of us
to hold such chats with our neighbors and family, while they can’t
provide us with regular and open communication.
sorry, but i am not impressed that the usual suspects from gay inc, matt
foreman and evan wolfson, are quoted lauding this non-starter of an
idea from EQCA.
what would have impressed me would have been EQCA including a series of
breakthrough conversations across the state to talk with us about their
new program, which seems like the same stuff they were calling for after
november 2008. check out my recent post on some underhandedness at the EQCA site:
http://mpetrelis.blogspot.com/2011/10/eqcas-decision-on-2012-prop-8-repeal.html
Shouldn’t they change their names from EQ|CA (Equality California) to SQ|CA (Status Quo California)
regardless of where one stands on a 2012 ballot repeal effort, it should not have taken EQCA so long to read the tea leaves and make a damn decision. it also was not smart at all to wrap the decision in a confusing release about several other topics the group is supposedly working on. their moves this week, starting with changing their site to make it appear they weren’t keeping a promise to get back to the community by the end of septmeber about the repeal, and now the bloated release, say to me EQCA is not respecting the community and has not presented a clear agenda to potentially buy into.
btw, they’re having a restricted access reception tonight at an art gallery in SF:
http://www.eqcaevents.org/calendar/events/index.php?com=detail&eID=437 .
sheesh. they can’t hold a breakthrough conversation with the community at an open forum about their decision today, but putting on another invitation only event for the gay elites shows just how far this group has NOT come since november 2008.
They’re clearly just embarrassed. No balls to fight for a cause, so they’ll bide their time until the older people die off… then presumably claim victory in 2020 when we’re finally equal again. If they really want a “conversation,” an election is the place to have it. Who gives two sh*ts if we lose again–we’ll have the status quo, and we’ll fight again and again and again.
Love, Honor, Cherish is so pathetic. They do not have the resources to take on this fight – please don’t make a fool of yourselves AGAIN!
We don’t believe that standing up and fighting for our rights is making fools of ourselves. And we are willing to do it openly and not hiding behind pseudonyms. It’s called having the courage of your convictions.