Don't Like Bigots? Got Some Extra Money? Then Donate to Idaho Votes No

Idaho Votes No Launches Major Fund Drive: $15,000 in 15 Days

By Joan Opyr, 9-05-06

I am not the original author of the attached post. I am merely a link in the chain of messengers. I received the following announcement today from the Idaho Votes No campaign, and I've decided to pass it along to New West's readers. The State of Idaho can ill afford yet another black eye, and that, I believe, is what passage of HJR2 will give us.

For those of you who are not familiar with HJR2, where have you been? HJR2 is the proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage and anything that approximates it. There is much that you can do to help defeat this civil rights menace, beginning with writing a check for whatever you can afford and sending it to the good folks at Idaho Votes No.

Is this a shameless plea on my part? Absolutely. Passage of HJR2 will harm my family. It may invalidate the very expensive wills, living wills, powers of attorney and trust agreements that my partner and I have paid our lawyer to carefully construct. Same-sex marriage is already illegal in Idaho. Why write discrimination into our state's constitution? Is this really how you go about "defending" heterosexual marriage? Why not start with a good marriage counselor? Or a constitutional amendment banning divorce? Or one banning quickie Las Vegas weddings? Or -- here's my favorite -- let's have a constitutional amendment banning Warren Jeffs. If anything is likely to turn off the heterosexual gals forever, Warren Jeffs is the very thing. Jeffs looks like a cross between Charles Manson and the late Don Knotts. Racist cult leaders -- they're not pretty.

NOTE: I have lightly edited this announcement before reprinting it. What have I changed? I've combined a few sentences, added hypertext links, and removed what I deemed to be an excess of exclamation marks.

-- Joan Opyr, Northern Idaho Editor and unapologetic anti-HJR2 partisan


Announcing Idaho Votes No 15 in 15 Fundraising Drive!

$15,000 in 15 Days – September 5-20th

With a little more than 60 days left until Election Day, we have reached a crucial time in the campaign. We have had amazing successes and critical victories up to this point. Now it is time to take this great momentum and turn it into a full-court press all the way to Election Day, and there is no other way to do that but to raise the money to support the mail, phones, media and voter contact necessary to accomplish this task.

Each one of these things costs many thousands of dollars. There is a simple reality: we must raise the money to fund these campaign needs in order to win November 7th.

Here’s how we play to win:

Idaho Votes NO is proud to announce the 15 in 15 fundraising drive. With your support, we will raise $15,000 in 15 days! This major push will begin Tuesday September 5th and continue on through Wednesday September 20th.

This money will allow us to prepare our first direct mailing piece to voters, and allow us to print additional campaign literature, fact sheets, and persuasion pieces. This is an achievable goal if we all work together. Raising $15,000 in 15 days translates into raising $1,000 per day. That’s pretty frightening. But wait -- it also translates into 500 donations of $30. That’s starting to sound more possible. But it gets even better! Raising $15,000 translates into these contributions:

(1) $1,000 (3) $500 (25) $100 (100) $50 (200) $25

WE CAN DO THAT!

Here’s where YOU come in:

Ultimately the success of this fundraising drive -- and the success of this entire campaign -- will depend on people just like you. Winning will require each and every person committed to equality to make personal sacrifice and dig deep to support Idaho Votes No with their money and their time. No one can sit on the sideline if we want to achieve this monumental but not impossible victory on November 7th.

Make a donation online and become a partner in the fight for equality!

The easiest way to become a partner in this fight for fairness is to donate online at the Idaho Votes No Website, where you will also find updated information about our progress each day of the 15 in 15 fund drive. Click on the Donate link to make a contribution. Sign and mail pledge form and support the fight against HRJ2.

You can also send your contribution in the mail! Visit the Idaho Votes No website and download the pledge form! You can enclose your check or cash donation. If you cannot make an immediate donation or would like to give over a period of time, fill out a pledge form which will count toward our fundraising goals.

Tell your friends about the work being done for all Idaho Families!

Reach out to five friends and ask them to make a donation to Idaho Votes Noduring the 15 in 15 fund drive. If 20 people got five friends to make $30 donations along with their own, we would raise $3,600 in one shot. That’s almost a third of the way to our goal!

Make a donation today. We’ll be emailing regular updates on the progress of this fund drive over the next 15 days! Thank you so much for your support. Together, we can achieve a clear victory for all people in Idaho on November 7th.

Questions? Contact Andrew Yoder at (208) 353-6145 or e-mail .

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