Slog
News & ArtsMonday, October 1, 2012
2012 / Homo Confidential to the Woman Who Was at Pony on Saturday Night Registering Voters and Campaigning for Referendum 74
Posted by Christopher Frizzelle on Mon, Oct 1, 2012 at 11:43 AM
You said you were a law-school student (a busy law-school student) who was giving up her free time to hit the bars and campaign for Referendum 74. You're a straight girl, you have nothing to gain if it gets approved—you just think it's the right thing to do. You told me about meeting a couple of snotty gays at the bar Lobby and getting up in their faces when they said they didn't care about gay marriage. You are so awesome, and I hugged you, and I wanted to talk more but then I lost track of you. Call me (323-7101) or email me. I want to go out to the bars with you this week and write about you and what you're doing.
1
What is up with those snotty gays? I mean, no one can be so stupid as to think that gay people can get marriage equality without the help of tons of straight people. Can they?
Also, for your sake, I hope that is an office phone number you just posted here.
Also, for your sake, I hope that is an office phone number you just posted here.
2
Oh wait, disregard part one of my comment...I thought the snotty gays got up in her face and said that she did not care about gay marriage.
Because my brain did not see a possibility that the two gay people did not care about their own civil rights. But I guess we have Gay Dude for Romney here voting for a candidate who does not think he is a real person.
Because my brain did not see a possibility that the two gay people did not care about their own civil rights. But I guess we have Gay Dude for Romney here voting for a candidate who does not think he is a real person.
4
Gee, now Stranger readers will have to take time out from their busy schedule of sending death threats to Rupert Everett to harass "snotty gays" in Seattle. Maybe gay marriage isn't the most important issue on the the planet for all gays. Maybe some want to just live their lives without constantly being ass-fucked by the Stranger's "advocacy journalism". No, that can't be it.
6
Once again, the gays prove that it's not just straight conservatives who can be short-sighted, solipsistic idiots.
7
I am 1/2 of the straight law student girl duo that canvassed the bars on Saturday! It was so amazing to meet everyone and we would love to go out again with you!!
8
Maybe those guys should hang out at Purr or Q. Word on Saturday was that both of those places wouldn't allow the R74 volunteers to enter. Might be something interesting to follow up on for your story, Christopher.
9
I am 1/2 of this straight, law-student girl duo and we had SO much fun canvassing the Hill on Saturday night, we met some amazing people and heard some amazing stories, which further solidified our passion for marriage equality. We would love to talk more with you and definitely go out again soon!!
13
@8 Didn't allow them to enter at all? Or didn't allow them to enter because their intent was to campaign for a political cause? Because if it was the latter, then I don't blame those establishments. Many establishments, regardless of interests, affiliations or their crowds, don't want that stuff inside. It's a nuisance.
14
I'm simultaneously grateful for the activist heterocanvasseuses and respectful of crabby gents who just want to get drunk at the Lobby together.
15
While there's never any justification to be snotty or rude, I'll say this much: most people go to a bar with the expectation of being able to relax and have a few beers with their friends. Getting hounded with political requests (or HIV testing/vaccine trial testing, etc) is something that needs to be approached carefully.
Setting up a booth in a bar that people can approach if they're so inclined? Great. Acting as semi-stealth canvasser, even if for a truly worthy cause? Getting iffy.
Setting up a booth in a bar that people can approach if they're so inclined? Great. Acting as semi-stealth canvasser, even if for a truly worthy cause? Getting iffy.
16
Also - while I can understand hitting people up for donations at a bar, I've gotta question the wisdom of trying to register people to vote (as I've seen) while they're in varying states of inebriation.
17
Things to point out:
1)I kind of agree with #16
2)If they were being jerks to the young women doing canvassing, then they suck, but they are also entitled to their beliefs. Not all people, gay or straight, believe in any form of marriage. And, it should be pointed out, that marriage equality isn't necessarily at the top of every gay person's political priority list.
3)Also: canvassing in gay bars on Capitol Hill in Seattle does seem to be a bit "preaching to the choir". As Mr. Savage pointed out on Saturday night at the "Sexy Liberal Show", convincing straight folks on the other side of the Cascades could be more useful in the long run. Also a lot scarier.
1)I kind of agree with #16
2)If they were being jerks to the young women doing canvassing, then they suck, but they are also entitled to their beliefs. Not all people, gay or straight, believe in any form of marriage. And, it should be pointed out, that marriage equality isn't necessarily at the top of every gay person's political priority list.
3)Also: canvassing in gay bars on Capitol Hill in Seattle does seem to be a bit "preaching to the choir". As Mr. Savage pointed out on Saturday night at the "Sexy Liberal Show", convincing straight folks on the other side of the Cascades could be more useful in the long run. Also a lot scarier.
18
Virtually all of the Capitol Hill-based LGBT bars (Lobby, Q, Wildrose, R Place, Cuff, CCs, The Crescent, Neighbours, Madison Pub, Pony, Diesel, The Social, The Eagle, countless straight bars, etc) have been super enthusiastic about the marriage equality bar crawl to make sure their LGBT and LGBT-supportive clientele are registered to vote, and we very much appreciate their support! This is the LGBT civil rights fight of our lifetimes in Washington State, and there are many in the LGBT community, especially in the younger community, who are not registered to vote or have moved and don’t realize they need to re-register to vote in the Nov 6th election. This is an all-volunteer, grassroots effort to expand the marriage equality, pro-Ref 74 electorate, and people are super excited to see us wherever we go. Make sure to high five the marriage equality volunteers when you see them! And save us some trouble by registering to vote online (the deadline is Oct 8th, just one week away!!!): https://wei.sos.wa.gov/agency/osos/en/Pa…. Thank you to all of the amazing individuals and businesses who have enthusiastically supported Referendum 74, marriage equality, and the crawl volunteers, who are taking several evenings out of their busy lives for this critically important effort! And please do join us! All information is posted on our Facebook event page (we typically meet at Lobby Bar at 7 pm every Thursday - Sunday): https://www.facebook.com/#!/events/41167…
19
Michael, your 3rd comment (in # 17) makes complete sense, except this frankly isn't a persuasion effort, it's a register to vote effort for the many LGBTs and supporters who are not yet registered to vote or have moved and need to re-register in order to vote, and often don't even realize it until we inform them. If we get registered and then turn out our community, progressives, and really Seattle and King County to vote, we win in November, period. And if the bar crawls get big enough, we can hit a lot more bars (straight as well as gay) and we can even go beyond Capitol Hill. But of course that depends on you and many of those reading this to join us and make this possible! We meet at Lobby Bar every Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at 7 pm. Updates are posted on this Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/#!/events/41167…
20
@14, I was thinking Lobby must be a lesbian bar until I remembered that the word my grandmother used in barely-overheard conversations about itching was "vestibule."
21
Also, in response to #17 (3), we also phone bank to undecided voters (mainly in Eastern WA) to provide them with more information in regard to Ref. 74, and you are right, it is scary (one man told me that gay marriage was equivalent to incest), and now that you know the kind of opposition we are up against, we need all the help we can get! The bar crawl is just one of many things that the WA United Volunteers are doing to advocate for marriage equality. You'd also be surprised how many people were not registered to vote, but were more than happy to sign up at the bar, as they had been meaning to do it.
22
I want to thank the wonderful people that have given so much time to volunteer for Washington United for Marriage. This is a major election year and we are only going to Approve 74 with the support of the entire community gay or straight. I encourage you to get engaged with WashingtonUnited.org in any way that you think you could help. There are plenty of other volunteer options you would be suprised how fun and motivating volunteering can be!
23
@18: the word "marriage" is the biggest LGBT civil rights issue of our lifetime?? ew, get over yourself.
25
Tried to do the bar-crawl voter registration 4 years ago with minimal success in the registration department, but holy moly stickers! Drunk people love stickers!
Law school student duo: If I might be so bold, go print off a few hundred stickers at Kinko's (or whatever they call themselves now) and go pass those around Cap Hill, Belltown, downtown Bellevue, and ... does Olympia have a nightlife? this weekend!
Law school student duo: If I might be so bold, go print off a few hundred stickers at Kinko's (or whatever they call themselves now) and go pass those around Cap Hill, Belltown, downtown Bellevue, and ... does Olympia have a nightlife? this weekend!
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