Birth of a new Marriage Equality Movement

"Today, we are joining our allies at the Courage Campaign by pledging to stand up for the rights of every Californian. We will put pressure on legal entities to join this fight. We will shine a spotlight on the public figures who stand against us as well as those who stand with us. This is the first step towards a true grassroots movement to talk to our families and neighbors about the importance of this issue. And, in 2010 -- or perhaps even sooner than that if the courts take action -- we will repeal Prop. 8 and achieve our goal of marriage equality for all Californians." -- Becky Bond, Political Director, CREDO Mobile

As we wrote to you on Friday, Californians are "witnessing the birth of a new Marriage Equality Movement -- the civil rights movement of the 21st Century."

Organized from the bottom-up by thousands of ordinary people just like you in the aftermath of the passage of Prop 8, this people-powered phenomenon is exponentially growing by the minute, online and offline.

These numbers are simply staggering, driven by organic and viral organizing on the web, via email, across Facebook, and through text messages:

Marches and rallies in at least 12 cities across California and the country over the weekend, from Sacramento and San Francisco to Utah and Massachusetts.
10,000 marchers on Saturday in Los Angeles (Associated Press estimate).
10,000 marchers on Saturday in San Diego (Associated Press estimate).
Perhaps the most staggering number of all is how many people have signed the pledge to "Repeal Prop 8," launched by the Courage Campaign and joined on Friday by our friends at CREDO Mobile:

50,656

50,656 people pledging to repeal Prop 8 is absolutely phenomenal. But this is only the beginning. The larger this movement grows, the sooner marriage equality will be restored to the California state constitution. Permanently. It's up to you. Please pledge your support right now to repeal Prop 8 -- then forward this message to your friends:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/RepealProp8

Even Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger knows that it will take a grassroots movement -- neighbors talking to neighbors across California -- to make marriage equality history. As the Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday:

"Today, Schwarzenegger urged backers of gay marriage to follow the lesson he learned as a bodybuilder trying to lift weights that were too heavy for him at first. "I learned that you should never ever give up... They should never give up. They should be on it and on it until they get it done."

Governor Schwarzenegger could have done so much more to defeat Prop 8. But he is not alone. While our elected leaders need to personally campaign in communities across California to restore these fundamental civil rights to our state's constitution, it's really up to all of us to talk with our friends and neighbors.

No matter their party affiliation, 50,656 people are standing strong together -- gay and straight -- against Prop 8. Now, we need your signature. If you haven't signed the pledge yet, please show your support now to repeal Prop 8 and restore marriage equality to California -- then forward this message to your friends:

http://www.couragecampaign.org/RepealProp8

This movement is capturing the attention of people across America, from the thousands of people who have never participated in a march before to the numerous organizations now vowing to leverage their resources to repeal Prop 8.

If we can build the kind of people-powered campaign that lifted President-elect Barack Obama into the White House, together, we can restore marriage equality to California. You can help get this movement off the ground now by forwarding this email to your social networks -- family, friends, and neighbors -- as soon as possible.

Thank you for doing everything you can to change California and our country.

Rick Jacobs
Chair
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The Courage Campaign Issues Committee is part of the Courage Campaign's online organizing network that empowers over 100,000 grassroots and netroots activists to bring progressive change to California.