[HCCN] HANCOCK COUNTY BUS TO MARRIAGE EQUALITY HEARING

[Peter Rees]

The campaign for marriage equality in Maine is moving to the next level: a public hearing on Sen. Dennis Damon's bill "An Act to End Discrimination in Civil Marriage and Affirm Religious Freedom" will be held on Friday, April 24, at Cony High School in Augusta.

April 24th will be the single most important day of this campaign outside of the final vote.  The media, legislators, governor, and people of Maine will be watching.   We know that busloads of the opponents from in and out of state are planning to attend.  Fair-minded Mainers need to be present and visible in even larger numbers. This is a great opportunity for both adults and students to participate in this fundamental civil rights action. 

Kay Wilkins, co-chair of Downeast GLSEN, is coordinating the effort from Hancock County. We also have a bus going down to the hearing!  We'll need to kick in a bit for gas, but that's the only cost. The bus seats 56.  We believe we can fill it. The bus will depart the Bar Harbor town pier at 4:00AM. Next stop is College of the Atlantic departing at 4:15. The final pick up is Ellsworth High School's parking lot where we have permission to leave cars.  We will depart EHS at 5:00.  The hearing is planned to go on until 8:00PM. There will be some people who will want to drive down.  Please make every effort to car-pool as parking will be very difficult.

Kay Wilkins would like the names and contact info of everyone planning to attend from Hancock County, but MUST have the names and info of bus riders ASAP. kaywilkins39 at gmail.com. 

If Vermont and Iowa have agreed to marriage equality can Maine be left behind?

Below is very important information from Equality Maine,  It explains why we must arrive so early and how to get yourselves on the list to testify:


*10 Step Guide to the Public Hearing* 
 
1. The public hearing will be held on Friday, April 24 at 
the new Cony High School, located at 60 Pierce Drive 
in Augusta.  Directions to the high school are 
included below.  The hearing will begin at 9:30am. 
Doors open at 8:30am.  Lines are expected to begin 
forming at 7am.** 
2. Testimony will take place in the auditorium, which 
seats 900 people.  Additional space for 400 people 
will be available in the cafeteria.*Several thousand 
people are expected to attend*.  You must arrive early 
to get a seat.** 
3. Plan to arrive by *7am*.  We need to make sure all 
available seats are filled with our supporters. 
4. It's critical that we *out-number* the opposition. 
Please bring your friends, family and children with 
you. 
5. It's also important that we *out-message* the 
opposition.  Signs will be allowed outside the 
building, but not inside.  It's important that we use 
positive, respectful messages on our signs - ones that 
undecided legislators and voters can identify with. 
Leave the negative messages to the opposition.  See 
examples and suggestions below. 
6. Be visible:  *wear something red*.  Marriage equality 
supporters will be wearing a splash of red that day - 
shirt, tie, scarf, hat - as a visible sign of support. 
7. *Testimony* for the hearing is being organized ahead 
of time.  If you are interested in testifying in 
support of the bill, please send an email as soon as 
possible to acashin at glad.org.  Be sure to include the 
following information:  1) your name, 2) town, 3) 
phone number, 4) partner or kids (if any), 5) 
occupation, and 6) ideas about your story or why you 
want to testify. 
8. For the hundreds of people not able to get into the 
public hearing right away, there will be an *organized 
program outside* that is intended to engage supporters 
and the media.  Included in the program will be 
individuals giving testimony at the hearing who will 
be escorted outside to address the crowd. 
9. If you are interested in *carpooling*, we encourage 
people to use the following rideshare site: 
ridebuzz.com.  It includes opportunities to both offer 
and request rides to/from different cities.  
10. If you are interested in *volunteering* in the weeks 
leading up to the public hearing, email 
swright at equalitymaine.org. 
 
* * 
 
* *Directions to the new Cony High School are below* 
 
*Suggestions for Signs* 
 
Let my moms (dads) get married 
 
Let my daughter (son) get married 
 
Fairness for all families 
 
It's okay, it's just love 
 
Another Straight Guy for equality 
 
Another Grandma for equality 
 
Another Catholic for equality 
 
Another Republican for equality 
 
Marriage is good for kids 
 
I heart marriage 
 
Together for 10 years.  We want to get married. 
 
The world needs more love, not less 
 
Pro-gay, pro-marriage, pro-family 
 
Maine still won't discriminate 
 
Marriage equality: the way life should be 
 
I heart my two moms (dads) 
 
Maine is for marriage equality 
 
I want to get married 
 
Now is the time for equal marriage in Maine 
 
Maine = equality & fairness 
 
Marriage equality for all 
 
(also, children's hand-drawn pictures of their family are 
always a hit) 
 
 
*Directions to the new Cony High School* 
 
>From the North:  From I-95 South, take Exit 113 to Augusta. 
Proceed straight through three sets of traffic lights. At 
the fourth set of traffic lights, turn right onto Church 
Hill Road. At the traffic lights, turn right onto South 
Belfast Avenue (Route 105). Take the second left onto 
Pierce Drive, the entrance to Cony High School. 
 
>From the South:  From I-95 North, take Exit 113 to Augusta. 
Proceed straight through three sets of traffic lights. At 
the fourth set of traffic lights, turn right onto Church 
Hill Road. At the traffic lights, turn right onto South 
Belfast Avenue (Route 105). Take the second left onto 
Pierce Drive, the entrance to Cony High School. 
 
Shelby Wright 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mainetalk.org/pipermail/hccn_mainetalk.org/attachments/20090408/ee2df573/attachment.htm>