We're pretty sure everyone receiving this newsletter knows Friday was a big day for LGBT people and their allies. Shortly after 7AM (PDT) the Supreme Court began reading decisions. When Justice Kennedy began reading, everyone knew what was up. The crowd outside the Court and around the Country began to celebrate. News outlets began to announce marriages occurring in States where it was not possible the previous day before the last of the dissents - which ranged from Chief Justice Roberts somewhat apologetic 'let's just wait for States to decide for themselves that their discrimination isn't a good thing' to Justice Scalia's incomprehensible opinion trying to prove the contention he made in his Obamacare dissent that words have no meaning - were read.

Locally, the action was at The Center with a capacity crowd inside and outside on the street. Todd Gloria and Toni Atkins both gave barn-burner speeches that got the crowd celebrating and they, as well as representatives from the Center, ACLU and Lambda Legal amongst others repeated the mantra - celebrate this weekend but don't forget that we've still got lots to do. 

We begin those next steps tonight.

In the past, we have allowed ourselves to get bogged down in unproductive contests between progressives vying for a "safe seat". While we allowed ourselves to be distracted by these shiny prizes, we allowed Republicans to take the more competitive races. When you add in the 50%+1 primary system that both San Diego City and County utilize, a ridiculously small number of people can elect someone to office without even competing in a general election. We can't afford to be distracted this election season.

Tonight, June 30th we will consider endorsements in the 78th Assembly District race as well as the 3rd and 9th San Diego City Council Districts. These are some of those safe Democratic districts that we shouldn't need to expend a large amount of time and money to keep that way.

We also plan to endorse in the Presidential race - for a different reason. Even in Presidential election cycles with a great deal of competition, the race rarely (if ever) stays competitive all the way to the California Primary in June. We'd like to have our vocies heard this year before thhe race is decide.

We will have a representative from the Clinton and Sanders campaigns to address the meeting. We've not connected with anyone from the Chafee or O'Mally campaign, but if you're a supporter, or you know a supporter of one of these candidates, let us know. We have invited all announced candidates to take part in our process in the other races we will be considering. We have also extended the invitation to potential candidates who have not yet announced upon their request.

To be considered for endorsement, all local candidates (not Statewide or National) must complete and submit our candidate questionnaire. It will be scored by our Vice President for Political Action and while questionnaires completed by candidates will not be sent out prior to the meeting, they will be made available for review by members at the endorsement meeting.

The meeting will also have a candidate forum, Q & A time and debate time for each contested race. The Club will decide whether to endorse (majority vote) and who to endorse (60% majority). The percentage is determined based on the number of members present, not the number of members voting. The vote will be by secret ballot if requested by any member.

If you are not already a member of Dems for Equality, you may not vote to endorse a candidate at the June 30th meeting (you can still join and vote in the next round of endorsements). Our rules require voters to have been members for at least 25 days before the endorsement meeting on June 30th with one exception. Former members whose membership lapsed 65 days or less before the meeting (membership expirations between April 27, 2015 and June 29, 2015) can renew before or at the endorsement meeting and vote at that same meeting.

The June 30th meeting will take place at Joyce Beers Uptown Community Center, 3900 Vermont Street (in Hillcrest) San Diego, CA  92103. Social at 6:30 PM, Endorsement Meeting at 7 PM.

Having your voice heard regarding candidate endorsements is one of the primary privileges of membership in San Diego Democrats for Equality. If you're not sitting at the table, you're on the menu. You can still take part in future endorsement meetings. Join, rejoin or renew and make sure you make a difference in 2016. You can join/renew online HERE.

Thursday, July 16th, 5:30-7:00 PM

SAN DIEGO, CA 92103

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San Diego Democrats for Equality is working to ensure that our community has the maximum representation possible when these meetings help to determine the direction and future of the Democratic Party. If you are not a member of Dems for Equality, please consider joining - this month. If you've let your membership lapse, please renew - this month. Together, we can make sure that your voice for equality and progressive politics is heard 

The Club depends on membership dues to keep the lights on and promote our candidates and issues to the community. A large number of community members depend on our Voters Guide to help them make an intelligent choice when marking their ballots so your membership renewal is critical to ensure those Guides get into those hands. At the risk of sounding like a Public Television pledge drive, if you depend on our endorsements, Voters Guide, newsletters, social media posts and programs, you should be a member! 

Note that in order to comply with Federal and State election laws, please include your full address and your job title/employer with your check. Telephone number and email address would be nice too!

San Diego Democrats for Equality's Facebook page has been number 1 among County Democratic Clubs for a while now. Even so, we've got quite a few new members so we're putting this out again. Please Like Us! Facebook includes the number of likes on a page as part of their complex algorithm to decide if our posts should be widely distributed or not. If you like us now, more people will see our Voter's Guide in their timeline next year. Twitter has different rules, but the effect is the same. The more people who follow us on Twitter means more people seeing our Tweets.

 

If you are on Facebook or Twitter and you haven't already liked/followed us, please do it now.

https://www.facebook.com/dems4equality 

@SDDems4Equality

Dems for Equality will be stepping out with Pride next month. As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of our chartering as a Democratic Club we want to make a big splash to highlight all the accomplishments that have gotten our community to where it is today.

We've invited officeholders, other Democratic Clubs and Party officials to march with us in the Pride Parade on Saturday, July 18th. Now, we're asking you! We've got a great story to tell and we need your help telling it. Dust off your walking shoes and start training. (It's actually a reasonably short walk and even if you don't normally get started early in the day, the energy from the crowd will give you the push you need).

We've also got some surprises for our booth at the Festival this year. We need help staffing: answering questions, registering voters and just letting the community know we're here to keep the momentum going. If you can help at the reception, march in the parade or taking a shift or two in the booth, Please let us know HERE.