National
Twitter fundraiser aids N.C. amendment fight
LGBT bloggers help raise $43,000 in single day
Activists fighting the anti-gay ballot measure in North Carolina this week teamed up with stars of the Twitter and LGBT blog world to help raise awareness and money to keep the campaign’s ads on television.
“We actually raised $43,000 online yesterday,” said Nation Hahn, director of online engagement for the Coalition to Protect NC Families. Hahn said the effort succeeded in raising both money and visibility for the issue. “I think that both the Twitter and blog fundraising and then the match that was extended by a donor combined to bring in our highest total in one day of fundraising.”
Hahn and the Coalition are fighting to derail Amendment One, a ballot initiative to be voted on May 8 that would amend the state constitution to bar any recognition of any couple that is not a married heterosexual couple. Early voting and absentee voting has already begun. Opponents of the measure say it will affect unmarried opposite-sex couples, as well as those same-sex couples that have legally wed in other states.
On Monday, more than 50 bloggers and Twitter users from across the country organized the fundraiser. Bloggers Joe Sudbay, Pam Spaulding, Jeremy Hooper and Daily Show co-creator Lizz Winstead pledged to donate $1 for every new follower on Twitter over a 24-hour period. The participants asked their followers to re-Tweet their pledge as much as possible, generating attention and buzz. Several of the participants were able to also recruit generous donors to match their donations. The collective reach of all of the players was estimated by Courage Campaign’s director of online programs Adam Bink as “several hundred thousand.”
“It’s a little bit different than an ask for a specific purpose,” Bink said. “This one is a little more personally engaging for the person taking the action. The reason that more people can do it is because it costs one person a little bit — it costs me $25 — but the people making it possible by re-Tweeting the ask, it costs nothing. It costs a mouse click.”
“You can help the campaign without opening your wallet,” Bink added.
“This is something that’s very simple to do, and shows the power of online activism,” blogger and North Carolina native and resident Pam Spaulding told the Blade. “People take for granted that you can do damage on Twitter — people have had their careers ruined on Twitter. But you can also do positive good.”
Winstead alone donated $467 — making hers one of the most successful efforts. All the bloggers and personalities who participated, however, saw an uptick in their follower count.
“A rising tide lifts all boats, so find something that helps the cause and the person participating — which is the blogger or the Twitter personality,” said Bink, who came up with the idea for the pledge drive. “So, for example, for me, I’ve had around 15 new followers today, which is great for me because it helps me get out more gay rights activism to more people, and it helps the campaign.”
Bink told the Blade that just from the first 20 bloggers who initiated the drive, $2,401 had been raised, with more coming from those that joined the effort later.
“The fundraiser started out as a simple pitch by Adam and the others and it turned into a significant event,” said Courage Campaign blogger Scottie Thomaston. “We had 40-50 people signing on to help us fight against Amendment One. The HRC helped, Tennessee Equality Project contributed, even straight allies dug into their wallets for this.”
“It was an awesome thing to witness,” Thomaston added.
Hahn — who said that online fundraising has been crucial to the campaign — said the money raised will go toward a combination of expanding direct mail, expanding television ad buys and online advertising.
“We’ve raised over $760,000 online from over 6,500 donors from all over the country — although 70 percent or more are from North Carolina,” Hahn told the Blade. “We believe that it sets the record for the state of North Carolina in terms of money raised for a state-wide campaign.”
The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at [email protected].
Congratulations to Gil Pontes III on his recent appointment to the Financial Advisory Board for the City of Wilton Manors, Fla. Upon being appointed he said, “I’m honored to join the Financial Advisory Board for the City of Wilton Manors at such an important moment for our community. In my role as Executive Director of the NextGen Chamber of Commerce, I spend much of my time focused on economic growth, fiscal sustainability, and the long-term competitiveness of emerging business leaders. I look forward to bringing that perspective to Wilton Manors — helping ensure responsible stewardship of public resources while supporting a vibrant, inclusive local economy.”
Pontes is a nonprofit executive with years of development, operations, budget, management, and strategic planning experience in 501(c)(3), 501(c)(4), and political organizations. Pontes is currently executive director of NextGen, Chamber of Commerce. NextGen Chamber’s mission is to “empower emerging business leaders by generating insights, encouraging engagement, and nurturing leadership development to shape the future economy.” Prior to that he served as managing director of The Nora Project, and director of development also at The Nora Project. He has held a number of other positions including Major Gifts Officer, Thundermist Health Center, and has worked in both real estate and banking including as Business Solutions Adviser, Ironwood Financial. For three years he was a Selectman, Town of Berkley, Mass. In that role, he managed HR and general governance for town government. There were 200+ staff and 6,500 constituents. He balanced a $20,000,000 budget annually, established an Economic Development Committee, and hired the first town administrator.
Pontes earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth.
Kansas
ACLU sues Kansas over law invalidating trans residents’ IDs
A new Kansas bill requires transgender residents to have their driver’s licenses reflect their sex assigned at birth, invalidating current licenses.
Transgender people across Kansas received letters in the mail on Wednesday demanding the immediate surrender of their driver’s licenses following passage of one of the harshest transgender bathroom bans in the nation. Now the American Civil Liberties Union is filing a lawsuit to block the ban and protect transgender residents from what advocates describe as “sweeping” and “punitive” consequences.
Independent journalist Erin Reed broke the story Wednesday after lawmakers approved House Substitute for Senate Bill 244. In her reporting, Reed included a photo of the letter sent to transgender Kansans, requiring them to obtain a driver’s license that reflects their sex assigned at birth rather than the gender with which they identify.
According to the reporting, transgender Kansans must surrender their driver’s licenses and that their current credentials — regardless of expiration date — will be considered invalid upon the law’s publication. The move effectively nullifies previously issued identification documents, creating immediate uncertainty for those impacted.
House Substitute for Senate Bill 244 also stipulates that any transgender person caught driving without a valid license could face a class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. That potential penalty adds a criminal dimension to what began as an administrative action. It also compounds the legal risks for transgender Kansans, as the state already requires county jails to house inmates according to sex assigned at birth — a policy that advocates say can place transgender detainees at heightened risk.
Beyond identification issues, SB 244 not only bans transgender people from using restrooms that match their gender identity in government buildings — including libraries, courthouses, state parks, hospitals, and interstate rest stops — with the possibility for criminal penalties, but also allows for what critics have described as a “bathroom bounty hunter” provision. The measure permits anyone who encounters a transgender person in a restroom — including potentially in private businesses — to sue them for large sums of money, dramatically expanding the scope of enforcement beyond government authorities.
The lawsuit challenging SB 244 was filed today in the District Court of Douglas County on behalf of anonymous plaintiffs Daniel Doe and Matthew Moe by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Kansas, and Ballard Spahr LLP. The complaint argues that SB 244 violates the Kansas Constitution’s protections for personal autonomy, privacy, equality under the law, due process, and freedom of speech.
Additionally, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a temporary restraining order on behalf of the anonymous plaintiffs, arguing that the order — followed by a temporary injunction — is necessary to prevent the “irreparable harm” that would result from SB 244.
State Rep. Abi Boatman, a Wichita Democrat and the only transgender member of the Kansas Legislature, told the Kansas City Star on Wednesday that “persecution is the point.”
“This legislation is a direct attack on the dignity and humanity of transgender Kansans,” said Monica Bennett, legal director of the ACLU of Kansas. “It undermines our state’s strong constitutional protections against government overreach and persecution.”
“SB 244 is a cruel and craven threat to public safety all in the name of fostering fear, division, and paranoia,” said Harper Seldin, senior staff attorney for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Rights Project. “The invalidation of state-issued IDs threatens to out transgender people against their will every time they apply for a job, rent an apartment, or interact with police. Taken as a whole, SB 244 is a transparent attempt to deny transgender people autonomy over their own identities and push them out of public life altogether.”
“SB 244 presents a state-sanctioned attack on transgender people aimed at silencing, dehumanizing, and alienating Kansans whose gender identity does not conform to the state legislature’s preferences,” said Heather St. Clair, a Ballard Spahr litigator working on the case. “Ballard Spahr is committed to standing with the ACLU and the plaintiffs in fighting on behalf of transgender Kansans for a remedy against the injustices presented by SB 244, and is dedicated to protecting the constitutional rights jeopardized by this new law.”
National
After layoffs at Advocate, parent company acquires ‘Them’ from Conde Nast
Top editorial staff let go last week
Former staff members at the Advocate and Out magazines revealed that parent company Equalpride laid off a number of employees late last week.
Those let go included Advocate editor-in-chief Alex Cooper, Pride.com editor-in-chief Rachel Shatto, brand partnerships manager Erin Manley, community editor Marie-Adélina de la Ferriére, and Out magazine staff writers Moises Mendez and Bernardo Sim, according to a report in Hollywood Reporter.
Cooper, who joined the company in 2021, posted to social media that, “Few people have had the privilege of leading this legendary LGBTQ+ news outlet, and I’m deeply honored to have been one of them. To my team: thank you for the last four years. You’ve been the best. For those also affected today, please let me know how I can support you.”
The Advocate’s PR firm when reached by the Blade said it no longer represents the company. Emails to the Advocate went unanswered.
Equalpride on Friday announced it acquired “Them,” a digital LGBTQ outlet founded in 2017 by Conde Nast.
“Equalpride exists to elevate, celebrate and protect LGBTQ+ storytelling at scale,” Equalpride CEO Mark Berryhill said according to Hollywood Reporter. “By combining the strengths of our brands with this respected digital platform, we’re creating a unified ecosystem that delivers even more impact for our audiences, advertisers, and community partners.”
It’s not clear if “Them” staff would take over editorial responsibilities for the Advocate and Out.
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