A recent New York Times story confirmed what we’ve been predicting for months: The chief strategist and leader of the national anti-equality effort has his sights fixed on Rhode Island in 2013.

“Frank Schubert, a former corporate public relations executive, ran the $40 million, come-from-behind push for Proposition 8 in California in 2008. He went on to mount successful campaigns to defeat same-sex marriage in Maine and North Carolina. Now, with marriage initiatives on the ballot in Maryland, Minnesota, Washington State and Maine, Mr. Schubert is the chief strategist in all four at once…

Mr. Schubert already has his eye on the next year or two, when he sees marriage battles brewing in Rhode Island, New Jersey and several other states.”

Frank Schubert is well-known for running some of the most divisive, misleading and hurtful campaigns this country has ever seen. And now he’s coming to our state to spend untold amounts of money pushing the anti-gay agenda of the so-called National Organization for Marriage.

So today, we’re asking equality supporters to donate just $6.00 to make Rhode Island the sixth New England state to win marriage equality. We’re not a big money organization, and maybe we never will be, but with your help we can beat back Frank Schubert’s anti-gay rhetoric.

We don’t run from bullies in Rhode Island, we stand our ground and dig in. If Frank Schubert wants to pick a fight in our backyard, MERI says “bring it.”

In less than a month Rhode Islanders will go to the polls to decide who will represent them in the General Assembly. Shame on us if we don’t stand up, raise our voices and work to elect pro-equality candidates who represent the interests of all families.

We’re closer than ever to having the votes needed to finally pass marriage equality, and so today, we’re asking you to do one thing: Will you commit to coming out to just one event to help elect pro-equality candidates before Election Day?

If you’ve never been involved with a campaign before, that’s great, we recognize that history is made by the first-timers. Your efforts on the phone or at the door could make the difference in whether or not we elect pro-equality majorities in the House and Senate.

So whether you’re an LGBTQ Rhode Islander or straight ally, there couldn’t be a more important time to join this historic civil rights effort and encourage our elected leaders to come out for equality.

UPDATE: This training has been postponed and will be rescheduled for a later date. More information to come…

It’s getting close to crunch time in the General Assembly and we’re about to turn up the heat.

In order to continue being as effective as we can be, we need your help. And so I’m inviting you to take part in MERI’s first ever “Organizing for Equality” training on Saturday, May 5, 2012 where we’ll bring together some top notch politicos to teach you everything you need to know about how to motivate our state representatives and senators in support of the Equality Agenda.

This training is free and open to all equality supporters. No experience is necessary. All you need is an open mind and the willingness to work towards creating change. We’ll show you how to do the rest.

Here’s some of the things we’ll discuss:
Legislative briefings on our Equality Agenda: The Equal Access to Marriage Act,
The Equal Access to Family Court Act, and The Equal Religious Protection Act
Navigating the State House: Talking to your legislator about supporting marriage equality and the entire Equality Agenda
Being an effective online organizer: Using social media and how to write a winning email
The Ground Game: How to run phone bank and door knocking efforts in your neighborhood
The 2012 Elections: What you can do to support pro-equality candidates (of any party) to the General Assembly
Registration is from 8:30 to 9:00 am and we expect to wrap up around 2:00. Light breakfast fare and a box lunch will be provided. The Organizing for Equality Training will be held at the offices of SEIU Local 1199 (294 West Exchange Street, Providence, RI).

It comes down to this: we need an army of equality supporters to step up and help us do what needs to be done to win marriage equality. If you’ve ever felt frustrated by slow progress, or by Smith Hill politicians who are out of touch, and you want to do something about it, then this training is for you.

This afternoon, MERI  appeared in front of the Rhode Island Board of Elections and presented  testimony voicing concern that the new voter ID law has the potential to put at risk the voting rights for the 2,000 to 10,000 transgender Rhode Islanders. We raised similar concerns at a hearing with the Secretary of State’s office last December.

Our testimony today focused on the proposed rules and regulations in the voter ID law as they stand and discussed their potential to place these individuals in an unwelcoming or hostile environment—an environment that is incongruous with the ideals of fairness and democracy that are supposed to define the voting process.

For example, while an individual’s identification could list one gender, that individual may be in the process of transitioning or may not wholly identify with their documented gender. Furthermore, the individual’s identification could list a name not traditionally associated with their gender at the time of voting. Such identification discrepancy could prompt a poll worker to initiate an awkward or embarrassing conversation that could bring the individual unnecessary and uncomfortable attention. Transgender individuals may be discouraged from even going to the polls for fear of being outed publicly.

But the dangers of the voter ID law on transgender people reach even beyond the possibility of discomfort or disenfranchisement to include the threat or act of physical violence. As many of us know, transgender people face extraordinarily levels of both verbal and physical violence in their everyday lives. The chance of public outing at polling places makes these sites especially susceptible to anti-transgender violence, and the mere possibility of such violence could demotivate transgender citizens from voting at all.

Although everyone should be able to vote at their local polling place free from fear and intimidation, the General Counsel for the Board of Elections wanted to make sure we knew we could vote by mail.  Members of the Board of Election appreciated our testimony and want to work with us moving forward to ensure the poll workers are properly trained. We’ll keep you updated on our progress.

Also, thanks to one of our Spring Fellowship students, Simon, for all of his hard work on this issue!

Marriage Equality Rhode Island was among a group of organizations that respectfully asked Treasurer Raimondo to return the award and condemn the hateful positions promoted by the Manhattan Institute. Instead of returning the award, she defended her association with the New York think tank by saying: “Accepting an award from any organization is never an across-the-board endorsement of its leanings.”  But that just misses our point.

Organizations like the Manhattan Institute use awards programs for many purposes, including raising money and validating their positions on a range issues to a broader, mainstream audience.  A cursory review of the Manhattan Institute’s website will, in fact, lead one to a number of articles and position papers that advance an anti-gay agenda and misogynistic agenda.

As LGBTQ people we know the power in who you will or won’t stand next to you. We know that standing for equality and fairness means refusing to stand next to ignorance and hatred. Raimondo’s close association with this organization could be interpreted by many as implicit acceptance of all their positions, not just those related to public pensions. We have advised the treasurer that those who aspire to political leadership are judged by the company they keep. Principles are worth far more than political accolades.