I am putting this in IMHO as it is not a GD nor Mundane and Pointless. If GQ is a better venue, please feel free to move this post.
In Dopers Humble Opinion - What is the best way, at this time, to voice ones opposition to the President’s proposal to amend the Constitution of the United States to define marriage as between a man and a woman?
I have located, via the Internet, my Senators and House of Representative and sent them an email requesting they not support this issue. Call my cynical but I really do not expect my voice to be listened to via this method.
Any suggestions for further action? What are YOU doing?
I work for an advocacy organization and we spend a lot of time and effort urging people to get involved. I’ll simply recommend what we recommend on any issue.
Yes, write your Representative and both your Senators.
Since a proposed amendment would have to be ratified by the states, write your state representative and senator, as well.
It’s fine to email, but don’t use a cut-and-paste form letter. It’s your opinion, put it in your own words.
Write a letter to the editor of your local paper. Believe it or not, they get read.
Since this is an election year, a lot of areas will have candidate forums open to the public. Ask the candidates how they will vote on the issue. Try to get them to answer with a straight yes or no. Tell them you’d rather have someone in office with the honesty to have a position different from yours than someone who won’t commit on a Constitutional amendment.
There is a GQ thread on this as well, maybe you can get together with the OP there and hold a rally?
ANyway, as I said over there, if you want to make a public protest/rally/demonstration, you need three things: a time; a place; people. If you have friends who feel the same way, get together and set up a time and place for a demonstration. Call all of your friends and let them know, and have them call all of their friends, and so on. Keep those who are interested on a central calling list, called a “phone tree.” Put together a press release and send it to the local media. Decide what format you want to have, do you want speakers, etc. Contact your local ACLU for assistance on legal issues relating to public protests. If you are in a city that has a gay community of any size, call the local GLBT resource center and find out if they’re planning anything and try to coordinate your efforts. If public rallies aren’t your style, make up some buttons that you and your friends can wear and pass out to interested people. Encourage them to contact their elected representatives. Have letter-writing parties. Individual letters are best, but if you can print up some post cards that people can quickly sign, it’s better than nothing.
When writing an elected official, I also suggest one actually write the letter and mail it–the old-fashioned way, with a stamp. These generally get more weight than the far more convenient email does.