From Prop 8 to Full Equality in All 50 States: Fighting for Marriage Equality and LGBT Rights Across America
From the passage of Prop 8 to the election of Barack Obama to the White House, the 2008 election had a profound impact on the fight for full LGBT equality in all 50 states.
This panel will tackle how we win and defend marriage equality state-by-state and how we build momentum for full LGBT equality across America. What are the lessons learned from the Prop 8 loss in California that Maine and other states can learn in their battle for marriage equality? How will we restore marriage equality to California? And how can the netroots help win these battles?
Pam Spaulding is the Durham, NC-based founder of the award-winning political blog PamsHouseBlend.com. She has also guest blogged on Firedoglake and for Glenn Greenwald at Salon. Pam was named one of Huffington Post's Ultimate Game Changers in Politics, received the Women's Media Center Award for Online Journalism, and was named one of the OUT 100 for 2009. This year Pam also landed on Politics Daily's Top 25 Progressive Twitterers list.
Monique is a lawyer and community organizer who has worked in social justice for more than 15 years. For the last seven years she has worked in the LGBT movement, most recently serving as campaign manager for Equality Maine’s marriage campaign. Previously, Monique was chief of staff at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and served on the Obama campaign’s national LGBT Vote Team. She currently works as political and organizational consultant, and serves on the executive committee of Protect Maine Equality, the campaign to defend Maine’s marriage law at the ballot box this November.
Michael J. Wilson is the brand-spanking new National Director of Americans for Democratic Action (ADA), the legendary 60-year old liberal organization founded by Eleanor Roosevelt. Wilson is a veteran strategist and organizer with a lifelong commitment to social justice. He has served as Legislative and Political Director for the United Food and Commercial Workers union (UFCW), at the U.S. Department of Labor, and as a Legislative and Press Assistant on Capitol Hill.
A graduate of Michigan State University, he began his career as a door-to-door canvasser and organizer in Chicago, but remains a devoted fan of the Detroit Tigers.
Julia got her start in politics working for Common Cause in D.C., following her graduation from Vassar College with a degree in American Culture. She moved out to California to work for the Alliance for a Better California, then later served as the Online Communications Director for Working Californians. Julia went on to work as the Online Political Director for the Courage Campaign, splitting her time between trying to fix California's broken government and advocating for LGBT equality nationally. While at Courage she worked on both the Prop 8 campaign and No on 1 in Maine. She was the primary lead on the Prop 8 Trial Tracker and the Testimony: Equality on Trial. Julia recently joined the Progress Campaign Change Committee as their Online Campaigns Director. Julia is an editor at Calitics and an occasional contributor to Crooks and Liars. She also currently serves as a trainer for the New Organizing Institute.
