Tag Archives: Courage Campaign

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Sign up to be a NOM Watcher!


Human Rights Campaign

Don’t believe the lies:
NOM is not a respectful, tolerant group.

NOM Exposed

We’re reaching out to you directly because you already may be familiar with NOM Exposed, the project of the Human Rights Campaign and Courage Campaign dedicated to revealing the truth about the so-called National Organization of Marriage. Chances are you’ve read our posts on NOM’s leading role in the states, or caught our latest video trying to get NOM’s required federal tax returns.

You signed onto “NOM Doesn’t Speak for Me!” – a vehicle we’re using to let lawmakers and the media know how out-of-touch and radical NOM really is. But now, with marriage battles looming in 2011, and with NOM promising to wage war on LGBT families, we need your help.

We need eyes and ears on the ground, to make sure that we fully document the hostile, anti-gay environment NOM helps create. We must hold NOM and its followers accountable and alert both the media and voters to their radical ties and agenda.

This fringe group is gearing up to undo marriage equality in states where it is currently legal and to stop marriage in other states where it could become legal. These people won’t give up until marriage equality is banned nationwide.

That’s where you come in. Become a “NOM Watcher.” We’re looking for people from all walks of life to report on and help us challenge NOM activities in the states. Check out our new tracker map to see where NOM might be next. In the coming weeks, we’ll be providing specific steps you can take locally as a NOM Watcher.

Thanks for your engagement. We can all play a role in calling out homophobia and protecting our families.

Thanks,

Joe Solmonese
Joe Solmonese

P.S. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for daily updates and to see what NOM’s up to.

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URGENT: Calls needed on DADT now!


Human Rights Campaign


URGENT: Our moment on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is NOW!

The Senate must take action before they leave – and anti-equality lawmakers take office.

Tell your senators to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” this week.

Call now: Sen. Maria Cantwell at (202) 224-3441 and Sen. Patty Murray at (202) 224-2621

The push to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” has reached a fever pitch. And this week could make or break it.

Years of work could boil down to what happens this week. The Senate’s “lame duck” session begins today – our last, best hope to end the discrimination this year.

When the new Congress shows up in January, the House will be under staunchly anti-LGBT leadership. We have no time to waste.

Today, as we launch full-page newspaper ads across the country, we need tens of thousands of supporters to back up those ads by joining HRC and the Courage Campaign to call on every single senator to end the discrimination NOW!

Call both your senators now – Sen. Maria Cantwell at (202) 224-3441 and Sen. Patty Murray at (202) 224-2621 – and tell them “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” must end BEFORE you leave and the new Congress takes over.

The last time the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” came up for a vote in the Senate, Sen. John McCain led Republicans in a filibuster of the national defense spending bill that contains the repeal. They blocked it from an up-or-down vote – even though nearly 8 in 10 Americans now favor repealing the law.

Watch a message from Joe SolmoneseBefore time runs out, we need Senate Democrats to bring the defense bill to the floor and we need Republicans to stop threatening to derail the entire thing – including critical military equipment and pay raises – just to keep this discriminatory law on the books.

Is it just me, or is it completely absurd that Senate Republicans would hold troops’ funding hostage, just so they can ensure that lesbian and gay soldiers have to keep lying or be fired?

The ads we’re launching today call out this hypocrisy for what it is: bigotry masked as patriotism.

It’s critical that every single senator hears from us today. Even if your senators are already with us on this issue they need to know that their constituents have their backs as they stand up for what’s right.

And no matter where your senators stand, speaking out today sends a bold message: It’s going to take a lot more than a few anti-gay leaders in Congress to make us give up this fight. As long as injustice is written into our laws, we will not rest.

Join HRC and the Courage Campaign: call Sen. Maria Cantwell at (202) 224-3441 and Sen. Patty Murray at (202) 224-2621 and tell them to act this week. Click here to let us know that you made the call.

Momentum for repeal is high. President Obama has called on the Senate to act during this short session – an important first step of the many needed for him to fulfill the pledge he made in the State of the Union to end this law. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and military chaplains are also speaking out.

Still, repealing this law is no easy task. But if brave men and women are willing to risk their lives while hiding who they are, we must be unafraid to fail – and always, unceasingly, unafraid to fight.

Never giving up,

Joe Solmonese
Joe Solmonese
President

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BREAKING: School board bigot resigns after our campaign


Working for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights
Human Rights Campaign
 

HRCnews 

October 2010
UPDATE
What has HRC done for me lately?
US – HRC volunteers and staff hard at work nationwide as Election Day approaches. More »
US – HRC and Utah leaders deliver 150k petitions to Mormon Church. More »
US – HRC presses President Obama on DADT. More »
IA – HRC helps fight witch hunt against pro-marriage equality judges. More »
US – After HRC’s letter, Dept. of Ed. offers anti-bullying resources. More »
US – HRC and Courage Campaign file IRS complaint against NOM. More »
ACT
Radical candidates could set back progress for equality if they win. And with so many races neck-and-neck, every single vote matters. You can multiply your vote by making sure your friends go to the polls. Use our new Facebook tool to tell your friends that you’re voting for equality – and they should too.
multiply your vote »
SUPPORT
Bullying from politicians, the pulpit, and playgrounds… An election that could decide the future of marriage equality… This is your last chance to help us mobilize volunteers, expose hate groups, run hard-hitting ads, and get hundreds of thousands of pro-equality voters to the polls. Join the fight.
donate »
NEWS

Video
Video: P!nk, Lee Daniels, and Ricky Martin at the HRC National Dinner 

 
Video: Our new ad calls on Carly Fiorina to reject NOM’s support 

 
Video: Your 150,000 letters hand-delivered to Mormon Church 

 
Sponsor Spotlight
TD Bank & TD AmeritradeHRC is proud to welcome TD Bank and TD Ameritrade as our newest Bronze National Corporate Partners. TD Bank has an exemplary record of support for its LGBT employees, including a 100% score on the HRC Corporate Equality Index. View special offers from TD Ameritrade and investment advice from Suze Orman. We salute TD Bank and TD Ameritrade for their support of HRC and their on-going commitment to LGBT Equality in the workplace. 

Full list of National Corporate Partners »
What has HRC done for me lately?
4 DAYS LEFT! Make sure your friends vote!
Last chance: stop the extremists
News: 9th Circuit Court revives DADT
Video: P!nk, Lee Daniels, and Ricky Martin at the HRC National Dinner
Nominate HRC!
The Goods
Essential Ring Introducing HRC’s sleek new Essential Ring, $19.
Check it out »
Wedding Registry
Registry Photo
 Joseph and Casey said “I do,” and they wish their friends could too! 

 
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Secrets and lies: NOM Exposed!


Human Rights Campaign

Don’t believe the lies:
NOM is not a respectful, tolerant group.

NOM Exposed

Sign the petition at
www.NOMexposed.org

Are you tired of the National Organization for Marriage, a.k.a. NOM, putting on a mask of tolerance for the media?

Are you sick of their claim that they speak for a majority of Americans – while they support extreme anti-gay zealots and keep their donors secret?

Well, we are. And today, along with our friends at the Courage Campaign, we’re launching a website that pulls back the curtain on NOM for everyone to see.

NOM Exposed uncovers shocking secrets so people can get the real facts as NOM throws its weight around in race after race this election cycle. We’ll post up-to-the-minute dirt on NOM over the coming months and years, so bookmark the site and come back often.

NOM recently released a slick new ad on behalf of Tom Emmer, the candidate for governor of Minnesota with ties to a group that condoned the execution of gays. The ad disguises NOM’s anti-LGBT agenda behind a fake claim of protecting civil rights.

NOM even had the gall to compare itself to Martin Luther King, Jr., flashing images of his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

It’s a flagrant distortion of reality – the latest in a history of deception since NOM opened for business during the Prop. 8 campaign.

NOMexposed.org is about spreading truth. We’ve spent months digging into NOM’s funding, shady ties, ethics violations, and more. We created this site so that every time someone searches for NOM – voters, elected leaders, reporters – they’ll get the real story. They’ll find out that:

  • Brian Brown, NOM’s President, has said that “allowing gay marriage is akin to allowing polygamous marriage.”
  • Not to be outdone, NOM founder Maggie Gallagher has said same-sex marriage is worse than polygamy.
  • NOM has close ties to the powerful and secretive right-wing religious group Opus Dei.
  • Robert George, the “reigning brain of the Christian right” and Chairman of NOM’s board co-authored the Federal Marriage Amendment that would have written anti-gay discrimination into the U.S. Constitution. He also believes that repealing antiquated laws banning sodomy will lead to incest.
  • To hide its political activities, NOM has blatantly flouted campaign finance laws.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg. We’ve tracked NOM’s financial ties, showing how huge, secret donations have swelled its budget from $500,000 to $10 million in just three years. We’ve connected the dots to the hierarchy of the Catholic Church and the Mormon Church.

Now we need your help to get the word out – share shocking facts on Facebook and Twitter or spread the truth by simply passing this email along.

If you believe that strong families aren’t about “straight” or “gay” but about love and commitment; if you’re a person of faith; if you’re straight or LGBT, married, partnered or single – add your name and say “NOM Doesn’t Speak for Me.” We’ll share this petition with officials and the media in states where NOM is at work.

We’ve called NOM out before, whether revealing the audition tape for “Gathering Storm” or alerting the press to their lies. But NOM Exposed goes deep into the organization’s roots and represents a commitment to keep tabs on their activity and connect the dots for voters.

NOM wants to claim the middle ground. But people don’t know who they really are. We are not going to sit by and let them dictate the terms of the debate. We’re going to expose the lies – not just today, but every day.

Won’t you join us?

Thanks,

Joe Solmonese
Joe Solmonese

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Stop Texas Oil from Rewriting Environmental laws


Stand against oil companies trying to overturn global warming legislation

Sign the Petition

With the Senate’s failure to pass an anti global-warming bill, legislation on the state level is currently our most direct answer to saving the planet.

California already passed one of the toughest anti-global warming laws in the world (AB32) back in 2006 — and its regulations will start being phased in next year.

But not if a bunch of oil companies in Texas have their way. Texas oil companies Valero and Tesoro have spent $3.5 million to fund Prop 23 in California; a deceptive initiative that, if approved by voters this November, will effectively reverse AB32.

If these Texas Oil Companies succeed in rewriting California’s global warming laws, it won’t just hurt California’s effort to curb harmful carbon emissions — it will be a giant step back for nationwide efforts to fight global warming.

So we need to tell Valero that their continued support of this proposition is going to cost them, too >

This campaign was started by our partner CREDO Action in California earlier this year with The Courage Campaign, but since then, Valero has upped the ante. With only two months until the election, they just gave another $3 million to fund the attack on AB32. There’s no telling how many more millions Valero will dump into this effort before November — but if we create a groundswell of national pressure, we can force them to reconsider their support. So we’re supporting CREDO Action in taking this boycott national.

The Senate climate fight made clear that dirty energy companies have far too much power in Washington. And now that the Citizens United case has opened the door for more corporate money in our elections, the best way to stop dirty energy from having an even bigger impact on ballots nationwide is with direct, public pressure that will be noticed by corporate executives and shareholders alike.

This type of pressure just made a big difference after Target donated $150,000 to a group backing anti-gay candidates. With Valero leading an attack on the strongest climate pollution reduction act in the country, we need to show them that their support isn’t just bad for the environment — it’s also bad for business.

Valero’s CEO needs to hear the message loud and clear. Sign the pledge and join the boycott of Valero >

Thanks for taking action,

The Change.org team