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Discussion: email your representativesReported This is a featured thread

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Judegeekgirl
Judegeekgirl
email your representatives
Jan 20 2009, 8:48 PM EST | Post edited: Jan 20 2009, 8:48 PM EST
What about an event where we target a certain week to email our senators, congresspersons and state representatives, and Barack Obama. If all the mail arrives at once, they will notice. Don't use a form letter. Encourage each person to write why these rights matter to them. Ask specifically for what you want. Tell them if you are gay, straight, black, white, age - anything you are comfortable with. Put it on Facebook as an event. Give people instructions on how to locate their representatives (there must be a website somewhere). Ask your local news stations to air it as news. Write letters to the editor about the event. Post it on the blogs of your local news papers. Post it to places straight people read. Handout flyers at the local mall or farmers market. 13  out of 16 found this valuable. Do you?    
skyoung
skyoung
1. RE: email your representatives
Jan 21 2009, 3:26 AM EST | Post edited: Jan 21 2009, 3:26 AM EST
I think that lobbying definitely needs to be part of the efforts being made. I think that your strategy could be deployed to some effect in two different ways. The first is exactly what you were talking about, telling our stories and letting elected officials know that they've got a constituency that cares deeply about these topics who are motivated and active. The other way is to choreograph letter writing campaigns and protests with specific events for example the court cases challenging Prop. 8 or times when specific LGBT related legislation is being voted on. I think that they should both be occurring in tandem.

I need to do a little bit of research first but I'm hoping to post a thread here soon on upcoming dates that might make sense to organize around. Do you find this valuable?    
jaysays
jaysays
2. RE: email your representatives
Jan 21 2009, 11:15 AM EST | Post edited: Jan 21 2009, 11:15 AM EST
It's actually easy to find out:

https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

Choose your state and put in your zip code and all the information on your representative is shown. 2  out of 2 found this valuable. Do you?    
jfermiller
jfermiller
3. RE: email your representatives
Jan 21 2009, 12:51 PM EST | Post edited: Jan 21 2009, 12:51 PM EST
"What about an event where we target a certain week to email our senators, congresspersons and state representatives, and Barack Obama. If all the mail arrives at once, they will notice. Don't use a form letter. Encourage each person to write why these rights matter to them. Ask specifically for what you want. Tell them if you are gay, straight, black, white, age - anything you are comfortable with. Put it on Facebook as an event. Give people instructions on how to locate their representatives (there must be a website somewhere). Ask your local news stations to air it as news. Write letters to the editor about the event. Post it on the blogs of your local news papers. Post it to places straight people read. Handout flyers at the local mall or farmers market."
If this is an official JTI event then city organizers can post the representative info and addresses on the city pages!
jfer 1  out of 1 found this valuable. Do you?    
GailWise
GailWise
4. RE: email your representatives
Jan 21 2009, 1:21 PM EST | Post edited: Jan 21 2009, 1:21 PM EST
How about 100 days into his presidency? By then, we could take him to task if they haven't acted on something easy -- hate crimes legislation, for instance. That really should not be difficult to get through and they should do it fast. 2  out of 2 found this valuable. Do you?    
lynne33
lynne33
5. RE: email your representatives
Jan 21 2009, 2:58 PM EST | Post edited: Jan 21 2009, 2:58 PM EST
I like the 100 days idea. April 30 would be 100 days. Do you find this valuable?    
Judegeekgirl
Judegeekgirl
6. RE: email your representatives
Jan 21 2009, 6:53 PM EST | Post edited: Jan 21 2009, 6:53 PM EST
I like 100 days too. There are lots of other events between then and now, the new Congress will be up and running, same with state legislatures. They need time to get started and we probably wouldn't be noticed right now. If any legislation is passed, we can say Thanks, now keep going! I really think this is something we could get straight people to do too 1  out of 1 found this valuable. Do you?    
TruthandLove
TruthandLove
7. RE: email your representatives
Jan 21 2009, 7:23 PM EST | Post edited: Jan 21 2009, 7:23 PM EST
Great idea and I also like the 100 days idea.
Give us time to word the letters just right. 1  out of 1 found this valuable. Do you?    
TruthandLove
TruthandLove
8. RE: email your representatives
Jan 21 2009, 7:24 PM EST | Post edited: Jan 21 2009, 7:24 PM EST
Hey, don't forget to vote, not just reply... 1  out of 1 found this valuable. Do you?    
GailWise
GailWise
9. RE: email your representatives
Jan 21 2009, 7:39 PM EST | Post edited: Jan 21 2009, 7:39 PM EST
Okay, my vote is for 100 days into the new presidency, i.e. April 30. 1  out of 1 found this valuable. Do you?    
m.mae
m.mae
10. RE: email your representatives
Feb 3 2009, 2:25 PM EST | Post edited: Feb 3 2009, 2:25 PM EST
I think that emails aren't the best way to contact. A phone call is better than an email, but the best is meeting in person. 1  out of 1 found this valuable. Do you?    
Judegeekgirl
Judegeekgirl
11. RE: email your representatives
Feb 3 2009, 7:36 PM EST | Post edited: Feb 3 2009, 7:36 PM EST
"I think that emails aren't the best way to contact. A phone call is better than an email, but the best is meeting in person. "
Well, truthfully, I don't know the best way. I do know that I have emailed all of my federal and state representatives. Most replied by email, a few by snail mail. All addressed my specific issues, they weren't just "thanks for writing" and they all gave me their positions on the topic. So.... they responded. In person - if your representatives have "town hall" meetings in your area or you live near the capital of your state, by all means go for it.
I've never tried calling. Has anyone else? I figure emails they can count. 2  out of 2 found this valuable. Do you?    
skyoung
skyoung
12. RE: email your representatives
Feb 4 2009, 4:58 AM EST | Post edited: Feb 4 2009, 4:58 AM EST
I was once told that the purpose of these campaigns are to overwhelm elected officials with correspondence so that it interfered enough with their daily operations that they felt compelled to act. Email has become a crucial part of daily operations but phone and snail mail are still very important. The ideal campaign would incorporate all three. 1  out of 1 found this valuable. Do you?    
fumi.camb
fumi.camb
13. RE: email your representatives
Feb 11 2009, 8:57 PM EST | Post edited: Feb 11 2009, 8:57 PM EST
"Well, truthfully, I don't know the best way. I do know that I have emailed all of my federal and state representatives."
in my experience in massachusetts, legislators' offices handle hard-copy letters most seriously. Maybe because it's signed document, they don't throw away; that's part of the reason jti strategically chose letters and postcards for "open letter to the president" campaign.

also it is a state-regulated legislator's office's job to file phone call they receive regarding their legislative activities, thus it has lobbying power. The file is documented and tallied by the aid. that's why we're doing u.a.f.a. and enda bills in direct phone calls so that our calls counter-account opponents calls.

email is tricky because there's no one-strict-rule each office has to follow; the common practice is the aid try to identify whether the email is coming from own constituency, or not. if so, the aid prints it out and passes it to appropriate staff to deal. if not, they'd save the email in 'already-read' box. 5  out of 5 found this valuable. Do you?    
Judegeekgirl
Judegeekgirl
14. RE: email your representatives
Feb 12 2009, 9:37 PM EST | Post edited: Feb 12 2009, 9:37 PM EST
I'm learning I should have titled this contact your representatives. Thanks fumi. Knowing which method gets the most attention is very helpful. I would welcome people to use any method they can and just advise which one could be most effective. Better an email than nothing.

Is there a place to watch which bills are coming up for a vote? Or certain senators/congresspersons that we could ask to sponsor bills? Do you find this valuable?    
janewishon
janewishon
15. RE: email your representatives
Feb 13 2009, 11:12 AM EST | Post edited: Feb 13 2009, 11:12 AM EST
Here's a chance to do something now:
(from marriageequality.org)
Currently, thousands of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Americans face the terrible choice of separating from the person they love or leaving their country because of discriminatory laws that don’t allow same-sex couples to sponsor their partners for immigration.
The Uniting American Families Act will be introduced in the House of Representatives on Thursday, February 12, 2009, by Rep. Jerrold Nadler [NY-8]. If passed, this Act would immediately remedy 1 of the 1,138 federal rights denied same-sex couples.
A national coalition of LGBT-rights groups, including Immigration Equality, Marriage Equality USA, Out4Immigration, Join the Impact and Love Exiles, is asking everyone to take a moment to call your representative in Washington to ask that they join Rep. Nadler as a cosponsor of this bill.
Find out who your representative is at http://www.congressmerge.com/onlinedb/index.htm, then call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to be connected to your U.S. Representative.
Tell your representative’s staff:
I am calling to ask Representative ________________ to be an original cosponsor of the Uniting American Families Act of 2009. To cosponsor, he/she must contact Rep. Jerrold Nadler who is the lead sponsor.
The U.S. government discriminates against gay and lesbian binational couples by not allowing them to sponsor their foreign-born life partners for immigration. Because of this, they face the terrible choice of separating from the person they love or leaving the country. As Americans, they should not have to choose between family and country. Please ask Rep. _________________ to cosponsor the Uniting American Families Act of 2009 by reaching out to Rep. Nadler right away.
 1  out of 1 found this valuable. Do you?    
fumi.camb
fumi.camb
16. RE: email your representatives
Feb 14 2009, 12:55 AM EST | Post edited: Feb 14 2009, 12:55 AM EST
"(from marriageequality.org) ...A national coalition of LGBT-rights groups, including Immigration Equality, Marriage Equality USA, Out4Immigration, Join the Impact and Love Exiles, is asking everyone to take a moment to call your representative in Washington to ask that they join Rep. Nadler as a cosponsor of this bill.

Find out who your representative is at http://www.congressmerge.com/onlinedb/index.htm, then call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to be connected to your U.S. Representative.
Tell your representative’s staff:
I am calling to ask Representative ________________ to be an original cosponsor of the Uniting American Families Act of 2009. To cosponsor, he/she must contact Rep. Jerrold Nadler who is the lead sponsor.
The U.S. government discriminates against gay and lesbian binational couples by not allowing them to sponsor their foreign-born life partners for immigration. Because of this, they face the terrible choice of separating from the person they love or leaving the country. As Americans, they should not have to choose between family and country. Please ask Rep. _________________ to cosponsor the Uniting American Families Act of 2009 by reaching out to Rep. Nadler right away.
"
Jane, thanks for listing the ongoing bill Join The Impact is currently posting. The action item from Marriage Equality was until Feb 12th as in their posting; here's our update.

Good news and bad news; congratulations to Rep Nadler (HR1024) and Sen Leahy (S424), Uniting American Families Act of 2009 was successfully introduced to the 111th Congress. Bad news was that we have less Co-sponsors than we had at the 110th Congress:

House Co-sponsor: from 118 (110th) to 79 (111th)
Senate Co-sponsor: from 18 to (110th) 14 (111th)

For the first time, we have a real chance to pass this if we could successfully secure enough congress-people of our side. For it, here's the mildly revised easy action item (5min phone call to DC):

1. Find out who your representative is at http://www.congressmerge.com/onlinedb/index.htm

2. Call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to be connected to your U.S. Representative (or Senator if you'd like).

3. Tell your representative (senator)’s staff:

"I am calling to ask Representative (or Senator) ________________ to be a cosponsor of the Uniting American Families Act of 2009. To cosponsor, he/she must contact Rep. Jerrold Nadler (if Senate, Patrick Leahy) who is the lead sponsor.

The U.S. government discriminates against gay and lesbian binational couples by not allowing them to sponsor their foreign-born life partners for immigration. Because of this, they face the terrible choice of separating from the person they love or leaving the country. As Americans, they should not have to choose between family and country. Please ask Rep. (or Sen.) _________________ to cosponsor the Uniting American Families Act of 2009 by reaching out to Rep. Nadler (or Sen. Leahy) right away"

For more http://jointheimpact.wetpaint.com/thread/2379639/Equal+Immigration+Rights+for+Same-Sex+Couples%2C+Support+UAFA%21
Thanks! 4  out of 4 found this valuable. Do you?    
Orion45
Orion45
17. RE: email your representatives
Feb 17 2009, 12:02 AM EST | Post edited: Feb 17 2009, 12:02 AM EST
We do this every day on CHANGE.org. If you havent' joined there yet you should. Especially if you also want to help with things like WOMENS RIGHTS, HEALTH CARE, GLOBAL WARMING, POVERTY, HOMELESSNESS, ANIMAL RIGHTS.....All Causes are represented there I joined under Gay Rights first but have done actions...e.g. petitions in all those. 1  out of 1 found this valuable. Do you?    
PinkPantherRevolt
PinkPantherRevolt
18. RE: email your representatives
Jun 11 2009, 10:28 AM EDT | Post edited: Jun 11 2009, 10:28 AM EDT
How many times do we ASK a bully or oppressor for our ball back before we take it? Do you find this valuable?    
PinkPantherRevolt
PinkPantherRevolt
19. RE: email your representatives
Jun 11 2009, 10:28 AM EDT | Post edited: Jun 11 2009, 10:28 AM EDT
How many times do we ASK a bully or oppressor for our ball back before we take it? Do you find this valuable?    
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