Next Meeting - September 17, 2006 How the Right Wing Wrongs the GLBT Community and What We Can Do About It Our September 17th meeting features a presentation by Jamakaya, Director of the Wisconsin Center for Pluralism. The Center monitors right-wing and hate group activity around Wisconsin and promotes public education and coalition-building in support of democratic values and diversity. The Center for Pluralism sponsored a series of events on hate crimes in Madison this past Spring. Jamakaya, a longtime lesbian journalist and activist, will talk about the leaders, goals and tactics of the anti-GLBT movement in Wisconsin and nationwide and engage us in a discussion of some practical and effective ways to fight back.

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Events

Annual PFLAG Registration

Be sure to fill out and return the Madison PFLAG registration materials enclosed with this newsletter.

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Madison Gay Pride Parade

Despite confusion about the parade starting place, and despite confusion caused by changing the usually scheduled date so that there would be no conflict with the Gay Games in Chicago, PFLAG had an excellent turnout for the parade, one of the best in the last several years. It helped that the new route was a lot shorter than the route in previous years. Also in parade news, Paul Wertsch and Kay Heggestad took part in the Labor Day Parade in Fond du Lac on September 4. About 45 people marched, some of them slowly, behind the Fair Wisconsin banner. Scattered applause was very much appreciated, as was the cold beer that followed.

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Fair Wisconsin Fundraiser

The last big Fair Wisconsin fund raiser (previously scheduled for 9/25) will be held on October 4, 2006 at the High Noon Saloon, located at 701 E. Washington Avenue. The event starts at 5:30. Tickets are $50 per person and extra donations are welcome. See www.fairwisconsin.com for details of the event and how to donate to the cause.

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Farmers Market

We continue to have a table every Saturday at the Farmers' Market at the South Hamilton corner thru the first week in November. If you would like to take a 2 hour turn sitting at the table and talking to the public, let Kay know.

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PFLAG Meeting in October

PFLAG is a co-sponsor of a door to door canvass with Fair Wisconsin on Oct 15. It is a Sunday and it is IN PLACE of our October meeting. Right after the canvass, we will meet at Jo Elders for food and for our regular meeting. You can attend both the canvass and the dinner or just one or the other. Please check your calendars and see if you can do this. (Our September meeting is the 17th and is in usual place and at the usual time)

Please sign up with me if you will do the canvass.

Madison Door Canvass
Oct 15 10:45 AM - 3:30 PM
Event location to be announced; I'll keep you posted if you sign up for this.

Event information:
Going door-to-door is the most effective way of getting NO voters to the polls. We provide training from 10-11pm, hit the doors with a partner from 11-2, and then debrief as a team from 2-2:30pm. Come for the fun and to help defeat the ban!

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Canvass (from the Fair Wisconsin August 28th E-mail)

What an amazing weekend of Walking the Talk! 509 volunteers walked in 17 cities, changing the minds of voters everywhere. They conquered their fears, gave up weekend time, and knocked on over 25,000 doors.
In Milwaukee, 101 volunteers powered six different canvasses. Nine people talked to voters in Mineral Point. Green Bay had 22, Eau Claire had 33, and 248 volunteers talked to Madison voters.

Our conversations confirmed that once we explain the ban to people, we have the votes we need to win. But those votes won't be there unless we keep having these conversations every week from now until Election Day.
In places where our ads have been on the air for weeks, it's clear they are making an impact. People have seen the ads multiple times and many people told us they are voting no now that they understand the ban.
This weekend was an incredible effort, but it's just the beginning. We need to keep turning out in greater and greater numbers every week to secure the votes necessary to win.

Sign up here for future canvasses.

If you haven't canvassed yet or haven't joined us for awhile, now's the time. We're headed into the final stretch of the campaign, and we can't do it without you.
Visit our events calendar to sign up for an upcoming canvass in your area.

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Endorsements

Something is happening that our opposition never expected.

Instead of dividing people, the civil unions and marriage ban is uniting Wisconsinites from all walks of life. Labor, business, faith, professional groups, and many others are speaking out against the civil unions and marriage ban.
Visit our newly updated list of organizations that have taken a stand

Help us recruit more support and please inform us of any groups we might have missed.

With three months to go, we fully expect to gain the support of many more organizations and leaders across the state.