The State of the Movement: Speeches aren't change, change is more than words

[FreeState]

http://www.bilerico.com/2010/02/rea_carey_the_state_of_the_movement.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BilericoProject+%28The+Bilerico+Project%29

NGLTF Executive Director Rea Carey presented the annual State of the Movement address today at the 22nd Creating Change conference in Dallas, Texas. The speech was a real barnburner that brought the crowd to their feet multiple times as Carey called out Congress and President Obama to show "what a 'fierce advocate' could do."

...

It's 2010. We've waited long enough.

And if we don't leave here this weekend, together, pushing, focused on real change, last year's "when" will become "if" once again...

Compelling change to happen is, as it has always been, up to us.

And, honestly, I take faith in that...because I've seen what we can do when we're together...when we dedicate ourselves...when we decide we're not going to settle for anything other than what we deserve.

So, while we wait for action -- for the president to move beyond words and into bold actions and for Congress to find its moral compass -- we're going to keep pushing and keep working, and much of this change will happen in our own cities and states.

The work's not easy. It takes sacrifice both personally and for our families. We in this room know that. We've seen long days...long nights. And while at the end of those days, there will be wins and losses. Regardless, we keep moving forward. We keep working together. We keep gaining more support and we keep getting stronger.

No matter what happens along the way, the dignity of our lives will not be denied.

That's what the pundits missed in their post-election discussion and analysis of Maine. That one ballot measure wasn't a reflection on our movement or our goals. Maine wasn't definitive or a turning of the tide any more than it turns out California was. Do our losses hurt -- particularly for families in Maine, California and elsewhere? Absolutely. Does it mean we are giving up, allowing a temporary loss to stand in the way of history? Absolutely not.

This last year, we gained marriage equality in Vermont, Iowa, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Washington, D.C. We successfully fought back attempts to roll back protections in places like Gainesville and Kalamazoo. And in cities large and small, like Salt Lake City and Redding, Pa., we ensured nondiscrimination protections for thousands more.

Our grassroots support is strong and growing. Our progress on the local and state levels is definitively forward not backward.

And mark my words: We will regain marriage in California and Maine.

My grandmother has had a magnet on her refrigerator for as long as I can remember and I keep a copy in my wallet. It says, "Fall down seven times, get up eight." Well into her 90s, this philosophy has served her well and our movement too.

We've seen that when we come together, when we focus, when we roll up our sleeves and dig in...

We create change...../div]