Jun 172014
LGBTQ Justice
Jul 112013
National Welcoming Week is September 15 to 22: How will your town participate? Last year, Unidos Building Community kicked off the statewide tour of the Borderless Stories exhibit to celebrate Welcoming Week 2012. Read their story here and plan for how you can participate this year with the July Kitchen Table Activity! WHAT IS THE ACTIVITY? Did you know that [read more]
Jun 282013
Word travelled to the ROP office this week that anti-immigrant activists are out on the streets, collecting petition signatures for a ballot measure to repeal the recently passed Drivers Card legislation. Call the ROP office for materials to get the “Decline to Sign” message out in your town. On May 1 of this year, Governor [read more]
May 022013
May 2, 2013 Dear Friends of ROP in Multnomah County, Join us for the Rural Caucus & Strategy Session! Saturday, June 8th in Woodburn. Register here! 20 Years of the ROP Caucus! Each Spring, the Rural Organizing Project convenes over 125 rural and small town organizers, justice seekers, and community members for a day-long Rural Caucus & [read more]
Mar 172013
As an ROP volunteer I’m sometimes offered assignments that paid staff would love to do but, alas, they have minute-by-minute obligations that often preclude fun extras. So when the World Affairs Council of Oregon asked if ROP could meet with a delegation of Serbian LGBT leaders, the query was kicked over to me and I said, [read more]
Feb 222013
This week Oregon United for Marriage submitted their first 2,000 signatures to qualify marriage equality for the Oregon ballot in 2014! ROP leaders signed to ensure that 29 of Oregon’s 36 counties were represented from the start, and 10 of the 17 Valentine’s Day parties to collect signatures were in small town Oregon, outside Salem [read more]
Sep 272012
September 27th, 2012 Dear Ropnetters, This week, we share the story of an ROP group that turned crisis into opportunity. Read on to be inspired, and to pick up more tools for your organizing toolbox. Earlier this summer, following a community conversation about marriage equality in Lincoln County, a hate-filled op-ed was published in the [read more]
Oct 012011
Over the next month there will be some serious consideration on whether or not to bring a marriage equality measure to the ballot in 2012. Is there the voter support to win in 2012? That is why we are bringing you the October Kitchen Table Activism early this month, to invite your human dignity group [read more]
Mar 112011
A year ago, gatherings in a dozen communities launched the start of a public campaign for marriage equality in rural Oregon.
In rural communities that as recently as 2004 voted by a two-thirds majority for ONE MAN ONE WOMAN, the prospect of going public for marriage was a scary thing. Support groups & human dignity groups have been organizing for inclusion & safety for LGBT people for decades, a time marked with triumphs but also violence and hard choices. But instead of fear we saw tremendous courage, and the conversation on marriage began.
Nov 232010
What does it mean when a small town paper runs a front page story that features three local community leaders who also identify as gay – a first for the leaders and the paper? What does it mean for the multiplex movie theater in town to host a movie that explores homophobia in rural America? And a standing room only crowd attends at 10:30 on a Saturday morning? What does it mean when an audience with different perspectives then discusses those differences through tears and honesty instead of the divisive politics of the last few decades?
As I read the headlines of the day (endless war, more tax breaks for the wealthy, Palin for President), it is these small ripples that seem to offer real organizing possibilities for enduring these times.
The OUT IN THE SILENCE tour of rural Oregon was a moment of dozens of such ripples. The legacy of statewide attacks on the LGBT community beginning in the late 80s is our strong web of relationships, analysis, and skills that made this film tour a huge success.
If you missed the tour, you can order copies of the film here.