While neither group is framing it as a competition, two different marriage equality meetings in Los Angeles this weekend are a study in contrasts. On Saturday, at the L.A. Convention Center, the Equality Summit sponsored by Equality California, will host a broad range of talks and plenary sessions with gay and lesbian leaders from both mainstream and grassroots groups. On Sunday, Rick Jacobs and the Courage Campaign (which has been critical of Equality California’s Geoff Kors) will hold the first southland version of its “Camp Courage”, designed to train marriage equality advocates with the tools of grassroots organizing. Cleve Jones will be in attendance.
Queerty plans on being at both events and throughout the weekend, you’ll be able to follow along via our Twitter account.
The L.A. Times has more on Camp Courage:
“This first training in Los Angeles is generously underwritten by Dr. Bill Resnick and Dr. Doug Cordell. Co-sponsors include the 150,000-strong SEIU-United Healthcare Workers-West (SEIU-UHW), led by openly gay president Sal Rosselli; the California Nurses Assn.; and MoveOn.org Political Action.
“The Camp Courage training, inspired by ‘Camp Obama,’ is based on grassroots organizing models that have developed leaders and nurtured progressive social movements for many years, including the fundamentals of community organizing; volunteer recruitment and management; voter persuasion and more,” according to a statement.”
Camilo Arenivar
Why doesn’t Geoff Korrs just give up already and get together with the Courage Campaign. Is he another gay community megalomaniac who is more concerned with his own name attached to an organization or the actual issue? Anyone can see The Courage Campaign is light years ahead of Equality California as far as organizing, fundraising, and knowledge as to how to get the task at hand achieved.
Give it up Geoff, you had your chance.
Anne Marks
As the coordinator of the Equality Summit, I have to say that this is a curious story. Lilia Tamm and I are friends from working on the No on 8 campaign together and have long been in communication about the two events, and how to make them complimentary so that activists from around the state could both network/strategize and receive intensive training on the same weekend. Courage Campaign is a sponsor and attendee at the Equality Summit, just like how many Equality Summit planners and participants as well as EQCA staff are participating in Courage Camp.
Brian Saunders
Light years ahead of Equality California in organizing, fundraising and knowledge? Is that true? I thought Equality CA raised nearly 1/2 of the money for No on 8 and has passed like 50 bills in the legislature for equality and was the party in the Supreme Court case that got us marriage in the first place. What am I missing here?
Fabian
The Courage Campaign didn’t give a **** about Proposition 8. They didn’t do anything, didn’t provide any money, staff, or anything. I wonder if they even had an official position on 8. They then saw the “Join the Impact” protests in the weeks directly after the passing of Prop 8 and figured there could be potential in this movement that might benefit them. That’s when Mr. Jacobs started his little “No on Geoff Kors Campaign”. Please, the Courage Campaign is just a group that tries desperately to unite a bunch of people that hate each other. Not that that is a bad idea, but they are certainly NOT ready to run a campaign. HRC, EQCA and MEUSA are.
getreal
@Fabian: You don’t know what the hell you are talking about. Courage Campaign was not running the No on 8 Campaign and since the election have been running activist training’s all over the state and offering expensive databases and tools to ANY grassroots organization to use in their community. They are the only organization fostering and empowering new activists and creating new movement builders.