RE 2010 Update: Eugene Hedlund New Campaign Manager; John Henning Bye Bye
Eugene Hedlund, founder of Truthandhope.org and now the new campaign director for RE 2010
Okay. We’re going to be kind. Really. No sense in just being abusive or even mean. What would be the point? So we’ll just share the latest RE 2010 news: John Henning resigned some time ago from the executive committee for marriage equality 2010 initiative. You may recall our post on Henning and others being voted to that committee: The 5 White People In Charge Of The 2010 Marriage Equality Campaign.
Well things have changed since then obviously. Not only is Henning gone but so is Jeffrey Taylor. And today we find out that Truthandhope.org’s Eugene Hedlund is now the new campaign manager. We also wrote a post about Hedlund when he announced that he was starting his own 2010 campaign: Truthandhope.org Starts Own 2010 Marriage Equality Campaign; Says Existing Effort Doesn’t Support Grassroots.
We received communication from Hedlund tonight asking us for our support in gathering signatures in South Los Angeles. Sigh. This is all too overwhelming. Truth is, we actually like these people—Hedlund, Eric “bonehead” Ross, Jane Wishon, they’re all really good peeps. And their hearts are most certainly in the right place. We have to admit the romance of it all is a tad appealing with no big gun type orgs overseeing things; we’ve always appreciated and rooted for the underdog—-and these days that would most def’ be them. But the chances of this campaign actually taking off…we just don’t know.
Here’s what we’re gonna do: we’re gonna create a poll. Yea, you guys can be in on this, too. That way it’s democratic. Do you think the marriage equality 2010 campaign has a snowball’s chance in hell or no? After we finish writing this post we’re going to create the poll asking that very question, then twitter it, and then post the actual poll in our sidebar for you to vote. If your votes decide that the 2010 marriage equality campaign does have a snowball’s chance in hell then we’ll help Eugene in South LA. If your votes indicate the opposite we won’t. We think that sounds fair enough. We’ll leave the poll up for a week. Yes, perfect. Today’s Monday. A week from today we’ll take the poll down and see who the winner is.
And don’t bother cheating. These poll things are pretty sophisticated. We can tell if someone has voted twice.
This is gonna be interesting.
Possibly Related Posts:
- Jane You Ignorant Slut: RE 2010 Fires Back At Speaker John Perez
- John Perez Says Hi! EQCA Told Me To Tell You The 2010 Repeal Prop 8 Effort Is Dead
- The 5 White People In Charge Of The 2010 Marriage Equality Campaign
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26 January, 2010 at 4:07 pm
Unless a Daddy or Mommy Warbucks shows up and forks over at least several hundred thousand dollars to get paid signature-gathering going (and we're talking $2 a signature starting Feb. 1 – goes up 50 cents a sig as each month passes) within the next few weeks, there is no way 2010 is going to happen. It's rumored that Henning and others have been approaching large donors and have been flatly turned down. Jim Neal did do some matching funds for RE 2010, but it's peanuts compared to what's needed. There was a statewide signature-gathering event last weekend, but I hear that the turnout was nowhere near what's needed. There's another statewide event scheduled for Feb. 6, and I think the same result will be the ultimate writing on the wall.
I feel very sorry for the very earnest, well-intended and convicted people who were working on this effort. I'm afraid that it's going to get ugly in the next few weeks as the reality sets in and the blame game begins – and there's blame to go 'round on this failing effort at all levels.
Be clear: RE 2010's grassroots organizing structure was the result Steve Hildebrand and the Courage Campaign suggesting the election of an IAG and the creation of a statewide structure last summer in Los Angeles. Courage offered no feedback on the plans that were made in San Francisco last August (I hear Rick Jacobs was too busy having a late lunch in San Francisco's Financial District to stay for the entire meeting), leaving these well-meaning, but inexperienced people to flail-fail. The real story here is that this efforts failure is indicative of Courage's methodology for field organizing not quite living up to their slick branding. Scratch beneath the surface, and there's no "there" there. How's that for leadership?
26 January, 2010 at 5:15 pm
In regards to the number of volunteers that showed up, we actually had record numbers in San Diego, and pretty big numbers in LA. Unfortunately there was bad weather (I’m sure everyone reading this is well aware of the storm that hit California all of last week) that kept a lot of people showing up on that specific day; however volunteer interest has been growing significantly over the last few weeks and we already have a lot of commitments for February 6th. The huge turnouts in some of the main regions of the state last weekend are very promising. A straight friend of mine put it pretty bluntly to me. He said, “Do you think you should be equal? Or do you think you should be equal in 2 years?” Every day that goes by is another day that we allow discrimination in the constitution. For anyone that truly believes in equality and wants to do something to achieve it, join the statewide event on February 6th. You can get more information about the event by signing for the email list on http://www.RestoreEquality2010.com. I’ll be out on the streets and I hope you all will be there with me because we’re stronger when we stand together.
26 January, 2010 at 9:19 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by renwl.org, renwl.org and Lisa Kove, John Patmos. John Patmos said: RT @renwl: Blogged: RE 2010 Update: Eugene Hedlund New Campaign Manager; John Henning Bye Bye http://goo.gl/fb/E2TP [...]
26 January, 2010 at 6:40 pm
wow, there's still a chance for 2010? That's wonderful!
Thanks for posting the website – I'll help with whatever they need to get this going.
I can't believe anyone would want to wait until 2012 to get our rights back – LGBT stand up and demand our rights!
27 January, 2010 at 12:12 am
I am under no illusion that this is a difficult task – Truth be told, it is not so easy getting any ballot qualified even if you have the money – easier yes, but money isn't always the determining factor (That's not to say it doesn't help though). I am ready for marriage equality today, 2010, 2012 – which ever is sooner. So I will continue to gather signatures. We should support anyone who honestly is supporting the cause. I just don't want to say in the future "It's too bad I didn't do all I could." I say this about my effort on Prop 8 the first time around. Never again!
27 January, 2010 at 5:26 am
Proposition 8 passage was a stab in the heart to so many of us. The Supreme Court allowing it to be written in to our constitution is almost unconciousable. Unfortunately, our state has a governing process that allows the free will of the people perhaps too much voice in the process. That is a different campaign to address.
It is most unfortunate that so many, including many whom I greatly respect and have worked with over time, are believing there is any reason why we should wait for our rights to be restored. This shows an apathy that often is discouraging in our community in California. Let us all step up to the plate and move this forward. Determination and persistence will be the answer to our achieving our equality permenantly.