On the eve before voters in Gainesville, Florida head to polls on Amendment 1, volunteers gather at the HRC building on March 23 to phonebank on behalf of Equality Gainesville.
By HRC Field Organizer Terry McGuire:
Yesterday Field Assistant Katie Taylor and I spent the better part of the afternoon preparing for our final phonebank in support of Equality is Gainesville’s Business – the campaign to defeat the discriminatory Charter 1 Amendment that is to be voted on today. Katie and others did a great job of advertising this final event so we were anticipating a bigger-than-usual crowd of 20 or so. Imagine our surprise when 33 people showed up!
Despite some initial scrambling to accommodate the larger crowd, we had a fantastic evening of calling. Over the course of a couple of hours we identified approximately 390 NO voters and called through thousands to educate the community about the effects this amendment would have. A surprising number of voters really have no idea that, if passed, Charter Amendment 1 would strip away existing protections for the LGBT community in the areas of housing, public accommodations, and employment. When you ask someone, “Do you think a man or woman should be kicked out of their apartment or a restaurant just because they’re lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender?”, they almost always respond with, “Well, no, I don’t”. I hope that today the voters in Gainesville reject the divisive, fear-based politics of our opponents and uphold the current protections that the city offers its residents.
Thank you so much to all of the volunteers that showed up over the last few weeks to help us make calls! Keep your eyes on the news to catch the results of today’s election.
(If you live in Gainesville, click HERE to find your polling location. The polls are open from 7am to 7pm. If you have a couple hours to volunteer, or have any questions, you can call Regional Field Organizer Karl Bach at 202/280/5407)
HRC's Terry McGuire led the March 23 phonebank for Equality Gainesville.
[Legal Disclaimer: Paid Political Advertisement sponsored and paid for in-kind by Human Rights Campaign, 1640 Rhode Island Ave. NW, Washington DC 20036.
Approved by Equality is Gainesville’s Business.]
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