The wonderful thing about the Internet is that it can connect one person doing something courageous in obscurity with millions of other people around the world.
In this clip from Jeff4Justice.com, Jeff Girard confronts the County Supervisors in the Yuba-Sutter area in Northern California. It’s Yes on 8 territory—and the county is also pushing to overturn SB48, the state’sLGBT-inclusive history bill.
Standing before your local governing body and calling them on their shit is nervewracking. We would seriously rather get our teeth cleaned. Jeff tells us he’d “been gone from the area a few years,” so we can only imagine what kind of hurt and anger had been building up.
Props to you, Jeff, for standing up and speaking out.
How about we take this to the next level?
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DMI
Good for him. More people need to stand up to their knuckle-dragging representatives – regardless of whatever level they may be at.
tom
nice
pixelasian
Very proud of you, Jeff!
Michael
Jeff you are AMAZING!!!! And we ALL support you!!!
Baba Booey
Good for you, Jeff. We need more gay men like you.
jellybean
Great work! I appreciate your courage and admire your determination.
Gorbeh
Good for him but he might as well have been addressing a tree. I doubt it changed any of their minds.
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
wow! he’s one of us from this here site. *squeals*.
i just knew that one day one of our number would make the news…
my money was on jason… involving the words “crossbow”, “massacre”, and “sleazy girl scouts.”
MJ
That’s right Jeff!!! Call them on their BS!!!!
jeff4justice
Thanks for sharing Queerty.
I’ve been an activist for over a decade and have done many demonstrations and have done public speaking many times. I confronted outgoing Congressman Herger at a town hall meeting before and that was in front of a large anti-LGBT group. I disrupted a visit by anti-LGBT leader Brad Dacus at a local anti-LGBT church in this area last year too.
I actually confronted one of these guys – Supervisor Gallagher last year before this meeting.
Jeff Confronts Sutter Co. Sup. Gallagher On SB 48
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzTBJxmCORM
And yet it can be so nerve wracking indeed. I was surprised at how nervous I was this time.
During NO on 8, I was employed with the campaign as a low level volunteer recruiter so I was unable to do much to counter the Yes on 8 activity there back in ’08.
I had a lot of pent up anger at these people from what they did to the LGBT community in my hometown.
Next, despite confronting him last year, I also got Gallagher to have lunch with me. These people never even talk to us and get to know us. I told him during lunch I was likely going to go to a meeting and call them out on their anti-LGBT activity. We had a good visit and he was polite but still insistent on voting against equality. I tried my best rebuttal lines on why he should not oppose equality despite thinking homosexuality is a sin.
At least there is a human face to their anti-LGBT actions now.
ANYONE can go to those meetings and speak during public comment.
At http://www.co.sutter.ca.us/doc/government/bos/bos_home you can see when the meetings are.
I am no longer in Y-S or I would have gone again.
I hope some couples with kids or parents of LGBTs and other LGBTs will get out there and go speak from their hearts and share their perspective on how they feel about the awful actions of these anti-LGBT people.
We may not change their minds but at least we can inspire other LGBTs to stand up for themselves and not let this type of anti-LGBT activity go un-challenged.