About Let California Ring

Let California Ring builds support across California for the freedom for same-sex couples to marry through a broad public education campaign that reaches out to residents in every way imaginable – over the airwaves, in their local papers, in their communities, at their front doors, through their friends and family, and online. Our goal is to help all the state’s residents understand why the freedom to marry matters for same-sex couples who are their neighbors, family members, friends and fellow Californians.

Let California Ring is a coalition project, comprised of organizations that work in communities of color and faith, grassroots organizations, family organizations and allied organizations. It is hosted by the Equality California Institute. We are reaching out to our fellow Californians on the freedom to marry by:

• Canvassing door-to-door to engage Californians face-to-face.
• Reaching out through all types of media, including paid television, print and radio advertising, as well as newspaper and television coverage and online outreach.
• Helping the 18,000 legally married same-sex couples in the state, as well as their children, parents, friends, family and allies, to tell their personal stories to as many people as possible.
• Engaging young people to organize in schools and on campuses.

Our Next Steps

In 2010, Let California Ring will carry out pilot projects in several local communities. The projects will use multiple channels to engage residents: targeted, paid media; news stories; online media; community events; leader activation; and on-the-ground organizing efforts in neighborhoods. The goal will be to spur conversations and get people to talk to others in their circles about marriage for same-sex couples. The projects will be evaluated carefully for effectiveness, and we will apply lessons learned in further marriage education efforts.

Since its inception, Let California Ring has worked closely with organizations active in communities of color. It has invested directly in these organizations, as well as expending $2.5 million to run 14 ads in 7 languages in 69 ethnic newspapers and on 42 radio stations and 40 websites. This work will continue. It is critical to reach across California’s many cities and communities to help them understand the importance of the freedom to marry.

Our Priorities

Let California Ring’s activities are driven by the following priorities:

• Building support in communities of color. Let California Ring will place special focus on working in to communities of color. People of color make up 57 percent of California’s population, and there are real opportunities to strengthen support for the freedom to marry in these communities. Critical to this effort will be helping to enhance the strength of LGBT organizations that already work in communities of color.
  
  
• Helping the 18,000 legally married same-sex couples in California to tell their stories. Our experience shows that their stories are highly compelling, as are the stories of their children, parents, friends, family and allies, and those of LGBT people who aspire to get married. Let California Ring partners closely with organizations that work with LGBT families to ensure that these stories are heard.
  
  
• Engaging communities of faith at every level, to ensure that these communities are given a chance to add their clear voices to the conversation. We seek to bring mainstream and progressive congregations into Let California Ring’s educational and organizing work. California Faith for Equality is a crucial partner in this effort.
  
  
• Working closely with the grassroots. We have witnessed an awakening of a new generation of grassroots activists in California, and their creative energy, talent and passion are an integral part of this effort. Many of these new leaders will undoubtedly be our movement’s leaders for many years to come, and we are committed to supporting, collaborating with and learning from them.
  
  
• Engaging our allies. We place a special focus on engaging non-LGBT allies to make the educational campaign their campaign, too, by seeking out supportive individuals as well as organizational partners.
  
  
• Partnering with young people. We engage young people in high school and college to support the freedom to marry, to volunteer with the educational campaign, to register to vote, and to become prime ambassadors to others in their communities.
  
  
• Talking with people in their own communities. In partnership with Let California Ring, the Equality California Institute is maintaining and building on its field campaign, which has 20 organizers working out of nine offices throughout the state. The heart of the field campaign is to engage in face-to-face conversations with Californians on the freedom to marry. The Equality California Institute’s field campaign will engage and share its resources with partners and allies at the local level through Let California Ring projects.