Bigot Busting

Bigot busting has two primary objectives: preventing petition signatures, and providing a gay-positive experience to as many people as possible. An individual who might have signed a petition earlier can become an ally when confronted with the truth.

Our presence and effective presentation of the reality behind the rhetoric of the Christian right can result in the inability of our opponents to gather enough signatures to put their measures to a vote. Especially in urban communities where extreme homophobia is unpopular, potential signers are often too embarrassed to add their names to petitions.

Very often, the rhetoric used by the religious right to encourage people to sign their petitions succeeds by presenting us as a menace, as evil, unlawful, distasteful people whose special rights agenda must be stopped. By participating in bigot busting, our mere presence deflates many of those arguments. People approaching the petitioners can see some real living, breathing, walking and talking homosexuals calmly explaining the impact of right wing initiatives.

What follows is a brief outline of a structure for bigot busting, and some do's and don'ts. Soundbite answers to common questions and popular deceptions used by anti-gay campaigns can be found in this Action Kit. We encourage their use and reproduction.

How to Start

As volunteers accumulate, develop bigot buster training. It is critical that everyone participating understand the importance of following the Do's and Don'ts, and feels comfortable working within those guidelines.

Become familiar with the areas where petitioners frequently gather. Churches, being tax-exempt, are almost always off-limits for signature gathering, so investigate other likely places. Calling the opponents' campaign and asking where you might find a petition to sign is a quick and efficient way to track them down. Large grocery stores, malls, professional sports events, and large outdoor gatherings are likely petition hot spots.

Teams

• Rapid response: able to gather supplies and people and transport spontaneously to a petitioning site. (Someone attending a Portland Trailblazers game saw two OCA petitioners, called the hotline, and three Busters arrived within minutes to counteract the signature gatherers.)

• Identify several teams of volunteers who will go to preplanned sites (malls, grocery stores) on evenings or weekends when it is known that petitioners are out. No one should go alone.

A list of materials you may need are listed below:

• informational flyers, impact statements, favorable editorials,etc.
• banners or placards work better than picket signs
• first aid kit(someone may stub a toe)
• volunteer sign-up sheets/signature waiver forms for advertisements
• copies of the text of the initiative you are fighting

• pick up literature and signs from the bigot busters headquarters, transport to site
• as team members arrive at site, sign them in and go over bigot busting guidelines with each
• monitor the action; be prepared to intervene, if necessary, to avoid angry confrontations
• observe the progress the petitioers seem to be making; checking approximate numbers of signatures at the beginning and end of a session helps assess the effectiveness of the action
• get names and phone numbers of people who express interest in helping out with our campaign
• in the event no petitioners are at the site, contact dispatch for another site or suggestions
• return leftover literature and signs to bigot busters headquarters for future use, notifying the coordinator if more supplies are needed
• make sure everyone has returned safely from their missions
• be available by phone in case of emergencies
• have more than one legal consultant to contact
• lead debriefing sessions

Allow people to talk about good and bad experiences they had during the day. Take suggestions for how things could be done better, and take the time to answer questions that came up during the day. It is important to maintaining unity and enthusiasm that people be given the chance to give feedback.