Now Official: NOM Tour an Epic Fail

Earlier in the week there was some question about how much of a fail the NOM sponsored marriage tour was going to be.  After all, their first events were in smaller states and held at noon when their supporters might be at work.  So there was some question that a weekend rally might be well attended and turn out to be a rousing success.  After all, New York has almost 20 million residents.  And the weather today was clear and partly cloudy though probably warm for the geezers to be out in (2pm temperature 92 degrees with 39% humidity).  And yet only 57 people turned out for the event.  The tour is set to end in Washington DC on Sunday, August 15th with a 2pm rally.

Considering the pitiful showing so far there might be speculation that the tour will be cancelled before it reaches DC.  NOM is no doubt counting on Harry Jackson to provide people where their own efforts have been a massive failure.  Hope Christian Church has 3,000 members and Jackson could provide a free lunch and bus transportation to get a larger crowd than NOM can.  The Sunday afternoon rally is perfectly timed to use this technique, the way he got 3-500 people to rally in Freedom Plaza against the DC marriage equality legislation.  However, Jackson's events are more of a party nature with brief intermissions where pastors spew hate. There is little evidence that Jackson's last event on marriage equality, a press conference/rally in the Capitol Visitors Center, even occurred.  The location of the DC event has not been announced.  An outdoor rally in August is unlikely to draw a crowd.

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[Morgan Meneses-Sheets]

Equality Maryland and the Maryland Black Family Alliance are holding events in 6 different cities to have conversations with potential supporters, identify new volunteers and strengthen the movement for LGBT equality on the 21st in response to NOM coming to town.

We are holding a phonebank in Baltimore to reach out to local supporters and volunteers and get them involved. We will also be gathering postcards in Rockville (Montgomery County), Hyattsville (Prince George's County), Frederick (Frederick County), Annapolis (Anne Arundel County), and Ellicott City (Howard County). These are opportunities to engage with community members on our issues. We will utilize these postcards to increase our network and identity new volunteers and supporters. We will also share the postcards with legislators at the beginning of the legislative session to show them that there is strong support for equality in every county and every district in Maryland!

Click here to find out more or to get involved: http://equalityfederation.salsalabs.com/o/35015/p/salsa/web/common/public/signup?signup_page_KEY=69.