Jake Gellar-Goad's blog

I am just back from HKonJ 6. I wanted to create a place with this blog entry for people to share their experiences and photos from the march and rally. For me, it was a great event. It was really empowering to see so many people supporting equality, voting rights, raising awareness about HAVA, and social justice. I saw old friends, made new contacts, and even saw Rep. Miller there as well. What was your experience with this, or past HKonJs?

Washington already has doled out the money, with $4 million sitting in a North Carolina account. But to access this care package, the state has to put up $660,000 of its own. A no-brainer?

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/02/08/1837744/hot-but-smooth.html#story...

A no-brainer? Sure seems like it.

Have you heard about Organize North Carolina? It's a website designed to help progressives coordinate. In much the same way Blue NC brings us together for important discussions, this site brings us together to create one master calendar we can all share. More about this site, and this week's Marriage News Watch below the fold.

http://www.organizenorthcarolina.org/code/calendar.html

The North Carolina Democratic Party recently voted to oppose the marriage discrimination amendment, and form the NC LGBT Democratic Caucus. That got me thinking and wondering about where other parties and movements stand, and where support for equality is coming from. Here is what I found. Feel free to add to it.

This week's video looks at the progress of marriage equality around the country, discusses what Governor Perdue's decision could mean in North Carolina for the amendment, and discusses an elderly North Carolinian couple who were willing to get arrested for equality. They got arrested for equality. Will you attend a march?

This week's Marriage News Watch covers the launch of Protect NC Families, and the Mayors for Marriage Equality movement. In related news, the Vote Against Project continues to travel the state hosting photo shoots where people can lend their faces to the cause of equality. To find out if your mayor has signed on yet, and to see when the Vote Against Project has a tour stop in your area, follow me below the fold.

With so many counties cash-strapped as a big election approaches, we need to start asking why haven't the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) funds been released yet, and what can we do about it?

Protect NC Families, the leading coalition working to defeat the amendment, had their launch event today in the North Carolina Legislative Building. It was a good reminder that, though some legislators may want to write discrimination into our Constitution, it is we the people who hold the true power. It was a diverse crowd of community and faith leaders that reminded us all of that power which we hold.

Follow me below the fold for more discussion of this event, discussion of the amendment, photos, and this week's Marriage News Watch video.

Check out this clip from the Colbert Report last night as he rips into the Citizens United decision, and the thin veil between Super PACs and the candidates they support.