Testifying at Education Hearing
How far will Equality California go to not promote a hearing today in Sacramento before the Senate Judiciary Committee on SB 48, Mark Leno's gay education bill? Recall that EQCA said nothing about the March 23 meeting of the committee on education, and has made no discernible effort to inform and mobilize the gays regarding the hearings.
A joint release yesterday from the Gay Straight Alliance Network and EQCA shows the lengths the former will go to not mention today's hearing. Notice the third paragraph about gay teens speaking before the committee in the GSAN version, click to enlarge:
Speaking of gay youths, both versions of the release include gushing quotes from Leno and EQCA's temporary director Jim Carroll about the youths.
Leno said: "I am inspired by the passion and resolve that these students have brought to Sacramento with their unified goal to make California a safer place for all young people." From Carroll: "We are proud of the fearless and committed youth who are sharing their stories today."
Too bad that inspiration and pride wasn't enough to make Leno and Carroll include a single quote from any gay youth. If SB 48 and the recent gay youth lobbying trip are all about the teens, I want press releases from Gay Inc to include quotes from the youths themselves, and not just adult Democratic gay executive directors and politicians.
In other SB 48 news, the Traditional Values Coalition today issued its second alert in less than a week to try and stop the bill:
There is no comparable alert at the EQCA site. This latest example of EQCA's inability and unwillingness to inform, engage and mobilize California's large and fabulous LGBT community illustrates how the No on Prop 8 debacle led by EQCA has in no way altered the group's approach to organizing.
2 comments:
I read your post and think you might find these details helpful.
GSA Network and EQCA staff co-wrote and co-distributed the press release you're referring to. While I was able to get online to update GSA Network's version of the release at the last minute, EQCA's staff were busy setting up and preparing youth to attend 53 legislative visits that day and weren't able to update their version of the release before our agreed upon release time of 8:00 a.m. The press conference advertised in the release consisted primarily of youth speakers and would not have been possible without EQCA, the Trevor Project and Transgender Law Center, our partners in putting on this event.
Jackie Downing
Communications Manager
GSA Network
hi jackie,
thanks for the further info. it is appreciated, but the fundamental problem of EQCA and mark leno doing so little, nil really, to inform the community and mobilize us to be at the events in sacto these past few weeks, and sent letters, etc., need to be addressed also. it's not just this one release or SB 48 that is at issue here. EQCA and mark leno have got to learn to engage and inform beyond their tight circle of Gay Inc orgs, other Dem pols and big donors. there is a large CA gay community that is not kept educated by EQCA and that needs to change.
michael
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