Messaging Marriage Equality: Speaker's Training for Supporters.

Equal Marriage Illinois is proud to sponsor a series speaker's training for supporters of marriage equality. Presented by GLAAD (the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation), the trainings will provide information on effective messaging, tips for dealing with the media and ideas about presenting your own message of equality.

Please join us at one of the following trainings:

Champaign-Urbana: Monday, Sept. 10th, 6-9PM, Unitarian
Universalist Church, 309 W Green Street, Urbana

Peoria: Tuesday, Sept. 11th, 6-9PM, Peoria Public
Library, 107 NE Monroe Street, Peoria

Naperville: Wednesday, Sept 12th, 6:30-9:30 PM, DuPage
Unitarian Universalist Church, 4s535 Old Naperville Rd, Naperville

Chicago: Thursday, Sept 13th, 6-9PM, Foley &
Lardner LLP, 321 N Clark, Suite 2800

To RSVP, please email jlarsen@aclu-il.org or call 312-201-9740 x300.

This event is proudly co-sponsored by: Lambda Legal, Equality Illinois, the ACLU of Illinois, PFLAG, Illinois NOW, DuPage UU Interweave, Equal Marriage Champaign County, Equal Marriage DuPage, DuPage PFLAG, CAAN, ACHR and PFAW, amongst others.

Congratulations to CORAL!

The Coalition of Rainbow Alliances was back in splendid form this year, taking both the First Place Grand Marshall's Award, and the Superintendent Award for craftsmanship. Congratulations to Bert Morton and the entire CORAL team for their splendid float.

Congratulations are also due to the Rainbow Flag Corps and Mary Mayes for their splendid performance.

Pictures will be posted as soon as they are available. (Got some? Send 'em to me!)

Also proudly marching were GLAD of Decatur, PFLAG, the Prairie Flame and of course, Equal Marriage Illinois.

MONDAY UPDATE (T+2)

Here are the updates for August 6th - 12th:

STATE FAIR PARADE: First, the Coalition of Rainbow Alliances will be marching in the State Fair Parade in Springfield on Thursday, August 9th. According to the Prairie Flame, CORAL is planning to expand on last year's prize winning float, which "swept the twilight parades float competition with three awards, including the Governor's Sweepstakes Award, for top float, (commercial and non-commercial entries)," and dynamic flag corps. Can you help out? Find out how by visiting the CORAL website at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/coralspringfield/.The CORAL procession will be joined by numerous other LGBT organizations from around the state. Come along, bring your banner & join the fun.

NORTH HALSTED MARKET DAYS: Equal Marriage Illinois' three sponsoring organizations, Equality Illinois, Lambda Legal and the ACLU of Illinois will all have tables at 26th annual Northalsted Market Days street fair (held Saturday and Sunday, August 11 and 12 from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.). Stop by, pick up some information or sign up to volunteer. For more information, visit http://www.northalsted.com/market_days.php.

SPEAKER'S TRAINING: Coming soon to an area near you: the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation is coming to Illinois to conduct a series of media trainings. This is an opportunity to get your training from the best of the best. Mark your calendars for "Messaging Marriage Equality: Speaker Training for Supporters":

• Champaign-Urbana, Monday, Sept 10th, 6-9PM
• Peoria, Tuesday Sept. 11th, 6-9PM
• Naperville, Wednesday, Sept 12th, 6:30 - 9:30PM
• Chicago, Thursday, Sept 13th, 6-9PM

Dinner will be provided. More details as they become available. Check back here for more information soon.

BLOOMINGTON CULTURAL FESTIVAL: EMI Bloomington-Normal will have a booth at the Cultural Festival, August 18th in Miller Park on Saturday, August 18th. Stop by and say hello! For more information, visit: http://www.culturalfest.com/

QUAD DAY 2007 at UIUC: Stop by and say hello at the EMI Champaign County table on Quad Day at UIUC on Tuesday, August 21st, 2007. We'll be handing out information and signing up new members.

FULL EQUALITY: PIT STOPS ON THE ROAD TO MARRIAGE: I'll be speaking about marriage equality and the civil unions legislation for Illinois on Wednesday, September 5th at 7:00pm in the West Lounge of the Wesley Foundation, 1203 W. Green Street in Urbana. We'll talk about the civil unions bill pending in the Illinois House of Representatives and what supporters can do in the short-run to pass this legislation next year, as well as the long-term goal of establishing equal marriage rights for same sex couples. The program is co-sponsored by Champaign County National Organization for Women, Champaign County American Civil Liberties Union, Equal Marriage Illinois Champaign County, and the University of Illinois Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resources.

UPCOMING EMI LOCAL MEETINGS:

• Equal Marriage Peoria: Meets Tuesday, August 28th at 6PM at New Church (1400 NE Monroe). They'll be discussing upcoming fundraisers, outreach to incoming students, developing plans for producing "Tying the Knot" and viewing "The ACLU Freedom Files".
• Equal Marriage Bloomington-Normal: Meets Tuesday, August 7th at 6PM at First United Methodist Church (211 N. School in Normal). They'll be discussing plans for producing "Tying the Knot" in Bloomington, and other outreach opportunities.
• Equal Marriage Champaign County: Meets Monday, August 20th, 5:30pm at in the Church Library of the Unitarian Universalist Church at 309 W. Green in Urbana.

Join the LGBT entry in the State Fair Twilight Parade!

Last year's prize winning LGBT coalition (CORAL) is coming back, bigger & better than ever. Let's stand up in our state capital for full marriage equality. Come to Springfield & bring your banner. August 9th - meetup at 4:30, step off at 6:30PM.

From the organizer:

The meet up time is around 4:30 PM on Thursday August 9th at Ninth and
Enterprise. We are about 2 blocks north of were we were last year.

Take Interstate 55 south to exit 98 Clearlake and follow that wets
into Springfield to ninth street. It should be a couple of miles. You will begin
seeing the downtown when you are getting close. Turn right (north) onto
ninth strret and go about 2 to 3 blocks. You will be at carpenter and Ninth and
the street will be blocked off so you will need to start looking for parking.
Fomr Carpenter and ninth we are about 3 blocks north on the right (east) side.
You won't be able to miss us. We will have the largest float. We are entiries
103 and 104.

EMI at Yearly Kos

Come by at and say hello at the Yearly Kos convention. I'll be posting updates on how we're integrating online tools into our organizing next week.

Got Photos?

EMI is working hard to build our main site - and we could use your help. The site will be up & running soon, but we could use more photos! Do you have any great action shots of LGBT/Equal Marriage activities in Illinois? Send me the links!

MONDAY UPDATE

Here are the updates for the week of July 30th-August5th:

First, the Coalition of Rainbow Alliances will be marching in the State Fair Parade in Springfield on Thursday, August 9th. According to the Prairie Flame, CORAL is planning to expand on last year's prize winning float, which "swept the twilight parades float competition with three awards, including the Governor's Sweepstakes Award, for top float, (commercial and non-commercial entries)," and dynamic flag corps. Can you help out? Find out how by visiting the CORAL website at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/coralspringfield/.

The CORAL procession will be joined by numerous other LGBT organizations from around the state. Come along, bring your banner & join the fun.

Upcoming local EMI meetings:

Equal Marriage Peoria: Meets Tuesday, July 31st at 6PM at New Church (1400 NE Monroe). They'll be discussing an upcoming editorial board visit, planning for a staging of 'Tying the Knot' and arranging for participation in the State Fair Parade.
To join their email list, go to
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EMIPeoria/ and click on "Join this Group" at the bottom, or send an email to emipeoria-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Equal Marriage Bloomington-Normal: Meets Tuesday, August 7th at 6PM at First United Methodist Church (211 N. School in Normal). Dinner will be served. They'll be discussing participation in the upcoming Bloomington Cultural Festival, as well as planning for a staging of 'Tying the Knot' in Bloomington.
To join their email list, go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EMIB-N/
and click on "Join this Group" at the bottom, or send an email to emib-n-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

Equal Marriage Champaign County: Meets Monday, August 6th at 5:30pm in the Church Library of the Unitarian Universalist Church at 309 W.
Green in Urbana.
For more information, or to join their mailing list, visit their website at http://www.equalmarriagecc.org/.

Finally, Many thanks to all who attended and helped out at the First Annual 'Hearts and Minds' Conference in Bloomington last month. Your enthusiasm and dedication to the cause of equality for all Illinoisans is contagious.

If you have an activity, meeting or event you'd like listed, please email acarter@aclu-il.org.

Please join us for the

Equal Marriage Illinois 'Hearts and Minds' State Conference

Join activists from around Illinois to exchange ideas and
design the strategy to win full marriage equality for LGBT families

FEATURING

Representative Greg Harris
Chief Sponsor of the
Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act
and the
Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act

Saturday, June 30th, 9:30AM - 4PM

Unitarian-Universalist Church of Bloomington-Normal*
1613 E. Emerson, Bloomington, IL

REGISTER ONLINE: http://equalmarriageillinois.eventbrite.com/

*DISCLAIMER Hosting the above event by the Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington-Normal does not imply endorsement of the views presented.

Welcome to Equal Marriage Illinois

EMI is a growing community of Illinoisans - all over the state - who are calling for an end to the exclusion of gay and lesbian families from full marriage equality in the Land of Lincoln. Illinois' tradition of fairness for all citizens demands that the state government treat all families equally. Will you join us? You can start by signing the pledge at our main site.

This blog will keep you updated about equal marriage news and events in Illinois and around the world. To start us off on a good note - here's a delightful advertisement making the rounds on YouTube:



If you have questions or comments or just want to share - please feel free to contact me, Allie Carter, the Field Manager for Equal Marriage Illinois and the editor of this blog, at allie@equalmarriageillinois.org.

We'll be adding content here regularly - so check back for introductory posts from all our regular contributors from Lambda Legal, the ACLU of Illinois and Equality Illinois. I'll also be posting reports from EMI groups around the state.