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CA Santa Barbara County
Welcome to the CA Santa Barbara County Chapter
of Marriage Equality USA
Our Chapter Leader is Anna Sorensen ~ to reach Anna at any time, please email ca-santabarbara@marriageequality.org
Here in Santa Barbara County, MEUSA works very closely with S.A.M.E (Strategic Alliance for Marriage Equality, Santa Barbara).
Please check out the website and join!
Marriage Equality USA's SB Chapter is just getting going here. Please check back soon and often for updates and events.
MEUSA's SB Chapter Welcomes
Camp Courage to the Central Coast!
Dear Friends,
I’ve cared about and worked for LGBT rights for a long time. So when I agreed to go to Camp Courage Sacramento, I didn’t know what I would learn that was new. After all, I know the arguments for and against Marriage Equality – I generally feel as if I can hold my own in a conversation. By the end of the weekend, I had learned a great deal about how to talk about and why I care about equality and justice for all.
At Camp Courage we teach each other and we build community through telling our personal stories of how we come to the struggle for LGBT equality. In Sacramento, I witnessed people who are otherwise terrified of public speaking feel so empowered that they got up and share their stories with everyone. Everywhere around me people made connections with each other through their individual story of self and collectively a story of “us” emerged. As for me, I learned how to tell the harder, more personal, stories and how doing so strengthens our community.
Please join us at Camp Courage Central Coast and share your story. You will be empowered to have those difficult conversations with folks who do not believe in equality and justice for all. I hope you will join us and help make our community stronger.
Want to see what Camp is like? Watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsxYPWJTIdc
If you want to know more about camp see the informational email below or contact me!
Anna Sorensen
ca-santabarbara@marriageequality.org
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Camp Courage Central Coast is an opportunity for activists and organizers to come together, recommit our energies and our talents to the LGBT equality movement, and show the nation that we will not rest until all Californians are treated with the equality they deserve.
Inspired by the "Camp Obama" trainings that powered neighbor-to-neighbor organizing across America in 2008, Camp Courage is an intensive two-day training designed to teach empowerment, team building, leadership development, and grassroots organizing skills.
Join Pacific Pride Foundation and the Strategic Alliance for Marriage Equality along with:
CAUSE
COLOR Ventura
Equal Roots
FUND for Santa Barbara
Marriage Equality USA Santa Barbara & San Luis Obispo
McCune Foundation
San Luis Obispo Equality Team
Santa Barbara City College Queer & Ally Club
Stonewall Democrats of Ventura County
UCSB Campus Democrats
UCSB Associated Students Queer Commission
UCSB Resource Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity
Ventura County Rainbow Alliance
NOTE: Sliding scale registration fees and lunch provided.
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Phone-banking for Maine!
Help Keep Equality a Reality for LGBT Folks in Maine!
During the critical times last year, many folks from outside of California gave their time to support our efforts to fail Proposition 8. It is our turn now to help! Maine voters will be voting on a measure very similar to Prop. 8 that will take away the right to marriage for LGBT Mainers.
Let’s do our share to help protect our fellow citizens. Come to a phone bank each Sunday between now and Election Day to call citizens in Maine and ensure that LGBT folks will retain the freedom to marry!
Bring your cell phone (we have a few land lines available as well) and join us at Pacific Pride Foundation (125 E. Haley, Santa Barbara) each Sunday between now and Election Day (Oct. 18, 25, and Nov. 1) between 2 and 5pm.
Questions or to volunteer: call Anna at 518 221 4520.
In the event that you are unable to come to a phone-bank, you can still help. To phone-bank for Maine from home using your computer and telephone, visit http://action.protectmaineequality.org/t/4847/signUp.jsp?key=2499&CFID=32021298&CFTOKEN=30994015
Also, please consider donating! Visit http://www.actblue.com/entity/fundraisers/22505 to make a quick and easy online donation.
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For those who are interested in being involved in the 2010 ballot initiative campaign there is a town hall meeting to elect the delegates to represent the Central Coast.
A Call to Action!
Restore Equality 2010
Central Coast Town Hall Meeting/Campaign Kick-Off
Date: Saturday, October 17, 2009
Location: Santa Barbara City College
Room: Physical Sciences PS101
Time: Noon-2:30PM
Restore Equality 2010 seeks to repeal California Proposition 8 next year. Proposition 8 was the 2008 ballot initiative that repealed same-sex marriage rights in California. Ballot language has been submitted to the State to overturn this ruling, and we are preparing/mobilizing for the Signature Gathering portion of the Campaign. One million signatures will need to be gathered across the state for this ballot initiative to pass.
Restore Equality 2010 seeks to elect 2 regional representatives from the Central Coast Region which will cover the Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo Counties. All attendees will be allowed to submit for one of the two delegate positions, and/or have an equal vote for their given region.
Please come out and be a part of history. Restore Equality 2010 will be the first true grass-roots campaign in the State of California. This campaign will be run by the people and for the people
NOTE: S.A.M.E. Santa Barbara is supporting any and all efforts for Marriage Equality but has decided not endorse a 2010 or 2012 return to the ballot at this time (see the official SAME statement here). Also, the SB Chapter of MEUSA is not endorsing either time at this moment but continues to support all efforts at achieving LGBT rights.
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Thanks to all the folks who raised money, donated, and walked in the SB AIDS Walk on Oct. 3. As soon as we know how much we raised to support Pacific Pride Foundation's necessary work on the Central Coast doing outreach, prevention, and support services for those affected by HIV/AIDS, we'll report it here.
Join Marriage Equality USA's Santa Barbara Chapter
To be included in our chapter please go to www.marriageequality.org, click on JOIN NOW on the left panel, complete the form and submit the form online. Please make sure to include your email address and correct zip code. It is your zip code that will add you to our chapter list.
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