Date: Sat, 10 Feb 1996 21:52:53 -0800 (PST) From: Richard Isaac Subject: BIGOT BUSTERS (WA) NEWSLETTER, 2/96 Greetings! BIGOT BUSTERS has just mailed out the latest issue of _The Counter-petitioner_, our newsletter, to our members. Below are excerpts from it.=20 NOTE:***NEW DETAILS since the printing of the newsletter:*** The Public Disclosure Commission will hold public hearings in Olympia on the complaint filed by Bigot Busters against the Washington Committee for Equal Rights Not Special Rights (WCERNSR, proponents of Initiative 166) on February 20, 1996.=20 The state will pursue five of the six categories of violations alleged by Bigot Busters, as well two others not named in the Bigot Busters complaint and will urge that the WCERNSR be fined. The most serious is WCERNSR's alleged violation of the anonymous contribution limit, and this may be referred to the Attorney General's office. Maximum fines on the other violations could total $2500.00, for which WCERNSR's officers will be held legally liable. An immediate decision is expected at the hearings.=20 Thank you for your support, * Richard Isaac =20 __*_*___=09=09=09=09 \* * / Seattle=09=09 =20 *\ * =09=09=09=09 =20 ***\**/** rmisaac \/ @eskimo.com=09=09HOMEPAGE: http://www.eskimo.com/~rmisaac/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ THE COUNTER-PETITIONER=09=09BIGOT BUSTERS vol. 3 no. 1=09=09=091202 E. Pike #1110, Seattle, WA 98122 February 1996=09=09=09206-767-2457 WE WON=D1AGAIN! =20 ------------- For the second consecutive year, two anti-gay initiatives have failed to gather enough signatures to qualify for consideration in Washington State.= =20 The latest victory may yet just prove to be the end of citizens=D5 iniative= s against sexual minorities for quite some time: both the leaders behind I-166 and I-167 have indicated in press reports that they will not pursue further initiatives.=20 But this is certainly not the time for complacency. As usual, our opposition pursues its goals without letup. The next battlefield will be the right-wing Washington State Legislature. Several anti-gay bills have been introduced there which would achiev e some of the goals of our opposition. Please contact your legislators (1-800-562-6000) and express your opposition to:=20 -*- HB2145: which would allow each county to pass its own (anti-gay) initiatives, as is happening in Oregon -*- SHB2262 which would prohibit same-sex marriages ***FLASH!*** As of this printing, it appears that SHB 2262 may well be put= =20 to a popular vote on the November 1996 ballot.=20 THE YEAR IN REVIEW ------------------ At our meeting on January 7, 1996, the Bigot Busters Steering Committee evaluated the 1995 campaign. Obviously it was a great success, but there was some room for improvement. Here is a peek at what we on the Steering Committee think.=20 + We won in 1995 through education. People don=D5t support discrimination and Bigot Busters made the point over and over that the initiatives would promote discrimination. We did this at every opportunity, in the media and through our highly praised and e ffective literature.=20 + But that was not our only victory. After we were smeared in the press in 1994, we were determined to do better in 1995. And our work paid off.= =20 We sent out press kits and talked to reporters before the campaign began and we met with news editors to make sure they knew who we were. By the end of the campaign, major newspapers, TV stations and radio stations were portraying us fairly and accurately (the highlight being a Christmas Day article in the Seattle Times by Lynn Varner).=20 + Bigot Busters continued to make a national impact. This year we sent out scores of copies of our how-to "Decline to Sign" manual which shows groups battling initiatives how to organize their own counter-petitioning campaigns. Our manual was requested in places from Florida to Minnesota to California (and even Turkey!). We are changing the way people think about initiative campaigns =D1 on both sides!=20 + Locally, the Steering Committee was also extremely pleased with our fundraising efforts, which were very fruitful, and with our revamped trainings, which were based on professional instructional techniques and included the use of a video made by Bigot Busters this year. We did a good job of publicizing our phone number in the community; we feel that most of the signature gathering activity that happened did get reported to our hotline.=20 - On the down side, we noted that contact between the Steering Committee and the dispatchers/volunteers needed to be improved. Certain measures to improve communication were taken in November, but had the campaign been more active, this might have been a more serious problem.=20 - Also, we realize we could have done more in terms of proactive informational efforts and developing relationships with mall management and store owners. To a great extent, however, our drawbacks were offset by the overall quietness of the campaign, and the disorganization, poor funding and poor staffing of the opposition. We followed the lead of the opposition to some extent, as did the whole gay community, which was much more subdued and even unaware of the campaign than in 1994.=20 + But on the whole, the Steering Committee felt that our organization was very well prepared this year, and had the campaign been more active, we were well up to meeting the challenge. Our strength was that our reputation preceded us and that the opposit ion knew we were and are strongly committed to defeating anti-gay legislation.=20 WHERE WE GO FROM HERE... ------------------------ So what happens to Bigot Busters now? The Steering Committee is considering our future, now that new anti-gay initiatives do not appear likely on the horizon. Some ideas include:=20 -*- fighting anti-gay legislation in Olympia;=20 -*- advocating for reform of the initiative system itself;=20 -*- being a watchdog group on radical Right activity; -*- launching a pro-gay initiative;=20 -*- jumping into the marriage debate certain to rage this year;=20 -*- working to form coalitions among groups of similar politics... If you have input in regards to Bigot Busters' future, we are eager to hear it! Please contact us with your ideas (by mail or phone). We are also considering holding a community meeting to help us determine where our energies are best spent.=20 FOUL PLAY --------- In another development since our last newsletter: Bigot Busters filed a complaint with the Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) against the Washington Committee for Equal Rights Not Special Rights (the backers of I-166) on November 29, 1995. The complaint alleges over 175 violations of the disclosure law in six categories (including failing to report required information about large contributors). The PDC gave the WCERNSR until December 29 (as opposed to the usual two weeks) to respond to the allegations and to submit amended reports. As of the end of January 1996, the PDC had received absolutely no response, and as a result it will pursue the matter in hearings in February. Possible penalties include fines of up to $2500.00.=20 FOR THE RECORD -------------- In 1995, Bigot Busters made an attempt to keep closer track of hotline calls and dispatch activity. "The log," while not 100% complete, did give us a good overall picture of what went on this year with I-166 and I-167 activity, where and when our opponen ts liked to petition, and where Bigot Busters could have improved effectiveness. (Our info is somewhat incomplete because we did not start the log until Oct. 25, and occasionally calls answered directly by a dispatcher did not get written down.) Here's a rough summary:=20 Between October 25 and December 29, 1995, at least 28 calls were made by the public to our hotline to report signature gathering activity. Most of the sightings were of petitioners for I-166. Calls came from all over Puget Sound, Bellingham, the Tri-Cities and Spokane. The most popular spots for signature gatherers were Costco stores around the state, where, because of store policy, only one side of a politically charged issue could conduct "expressive activity" at one time. Aurora Village and Federal Way Costco were t he most popular. To take care of the Costco sites, Bigot Busters signed up for many weekend and midweek days in November and December at the Aurora, Lynnwood, Federal Way and Southcenter (Tukwila) Costcos, with help from HOW at the southern stores. Ten Bigot Busters helped cover those stores.=20 Other hotspots were various grocery stores in Auburn and several locations in Ballard. Lest anyone think Ballard is a hot bed of anti-gay activity, most of the reports there concerned the same little old man who roamed the area almost every day trying to get signatures. Once when a group of Bigot Busters had arrived, the man approached and tearfully told of the source of his motivation: an incident in which he was "tempted" by another man=D1in 1937!!=20 By far the biggest activity this year was bigot hunting (volunteers dispatched to check sites for petitioners) with 24 volunteers participating, several of whom made it a regular habit to check on the hotspots throughout the campaign. We had 19 dispatchers and were able to cover most hours on the hotline in the last month of activity.=20 Approximately 43 of our trained volunteers made themselves available throughout the last two months by leaving messages or talking to dispatchers about when they could go out to bigot bust or hunt.=20 -------- [other information in the newsletter not included here : thanks to=20 volunteers, dispatchers, and certain individuals, organizations and=20 businesses which were sent out in previous e-mails; and our 1995=20 financial disclosure, also previously sent by e-mail.]