HRC Blog

Last night 10 volunteers showed up, from all over the DC metro area, to our HRC Headquarters here in Washington, D.C. for another Equality is Gainesville’s Business/Vote No on Charter Amendment 1 phonebank. For the last few weeks we’ve been inviting people to join us for a weekly evening of pizza and volunteer activism. As you probably know, there is an exceptionally nasty proposed Charter Amendment on the ballot in Gainesville, Florida and it will be voted on this coming Tuesday, March 24th. If passed, it would strip existing LGBT protections in the areas of housing, public accommodations, and employment. We’ve been calling into Gainesville to educate voters about what this amendment really means, and urging them to VOTE NO on 1. Our opponents in Gainesville are running a disgusting, fear-mongering campaign aimed at confusing voters about what is really at stake. We had a great night of calling, with 11 callers on the phone at one point! Everyone had a great time and afterwards we shared some great stories about the wonderful people in Gainesville we had a chance to speak with. Overwhelmingly, the people we spoke to supported fairness and pledged to VOTE NO on 1. In total, we identified over 135 NO voters that pledged to get out and vote – and of course take their friends and family with them. One caller, Brandi, had this to say at the end –

This was my first experience doing a phonebank. The opportunity to contact Gainesville voters and encourage them to protect people’s rights was very important to me. I came because I believe in the importance of anti-discrimination protections and equal liberties for ALL! I appreciated this opportunity and I plan to help HRC however I am able in the future.

I was so impressed by everyone’s dedication. These were all volunteers who came straight from other jobs and stayed with us until 9pm – all in the name of fairness and equality!

If you are free next Monday, the 23rd please join us for our last Get-Out-The-Vote phonebank before the election the next day. We meet at 6pm at our HRC headquarters, located at 1640 Rhode Island Ave. NW here in Washington, D.C. For more information, or to sign up, you can email me directly at terry.mcguire@hrc.org Also, if you are a resident of Gainesville, or know someone that is, make sure they know that early voting has already started in Gainesville. Registered voters can vote from 9am-5pm at the Alachua County Administration Building, located at 12 South East 1st Street. The election is Tuesday, March 24th and polls will be open from 7am-7pm. If you’re unsure of where you vote, call 352/374/5252. Hope to see some of you next Monday!

[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.]