Amy Balliett (b. 1982, Cleveland[1]) is a gay activist living in Seattle, Washington and is responsible for starting the Join the Impact organization in response to the passage of Proposition 8 in California during the 2008 US elections.[1]
Join the Impact has organized the National Day of Protest on November 15, 2008. The protest took place in over 400 cities in every state in the country and in ten countries around the world. The protest was attended by an estimated one million people worldwide. Join the Impact also helped organize Day Without a Gay on December 10, 2008. The event encouraged same sex marriage supporters to call in to work "gay" and do community service in their communities. Also many participated in an economic boycott that day by not spending any money. On December 20, 2008 Join the Impact organized Light Up The Night For Equality and the National LGBT Food Drive for Equality in cities across the country. Candlelight vigils were held in commercial centers and shopping malls in remembrance of the 18,000 same sex marriages performed in California between June and November 2008. An estimated one million people were educated about five rights not afforded to one in ten citizens simply because they are gay. The event garnered national attention, even the attention of the Fred Phelps clan of GodHatesFags.com, who held a counter protest at the Light Up the Night for Equality vigil in Chicago, IL. The event had pre and post event promotion from Equality California,The Human Rights Campaign, Courage Campaign, Marriage Equality USA MEUSA, LOGO,365Gay.com,LezGetReal, and many other groups.
Events in 2009 that are planned include a National DOMA Protest on January 10, 2009. The protest plans to gather one million signatures on a letter to President-Elect Barack Obama about his promises to the LGBT community. The signatures and letters are planned to be delivered to President Obama by Amy Balliett and Join the Impact on January 21, 2009.
In 2002 as an undergraduate of Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, Balliett was involved in the student LGBT group where she served as a key leader in organizing on-campus events.
Balliett is included on a list of out influential people in The Advocate's "Forty under 40" issue of June/July 2009.[2]