Courage Campaign

The Courage Campaign is a progressive grassroots advocacy organization based in California.[1] The organization claims an online grassroots activism network of 750,000 members.[2] The group works on a variety of progressive causes including LGBT equality, gun control and healthcare reform, including support of single-payer health care.[3][4][5] The group has taken an active role in California statewide ballot measures, including supporting Proposition 30 and opposing Proposition 32 in 2012.[6] Rick Jacobs was the founding chair of the Courage Campaign. In 2013, Jacobs took a leave of absence from the group and was replaced by Paul Song.[2]

The Courage Campaign's EqualityOnTrial.com was founded to cover the Perry v. Schwarzenegger trial when the courtroom forbade live television coverage. The Courage Campaign is an affiliate of ProgressNow.[7]

Activities

In 2011, the Courage Campaign organized a flash mob protest against Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. Over fifty people danced to Madonna’s hit "Like a Prayer" outside of the 2011 California Republican Party convention. The protest called attention to Bachmann’s connections to reparative therapy.[8]

When the California Supreme Court decided it would take six months to rule on the next phase of the Proposition 8 trial, Courage Campaign asked its members for testimony to back the legal challenge of Proposition 8 and other gay-rights litigation. More than 3,000 stories came in.[9]

While he was holding a fundraiser during a visit to the Pelican Hill Resort in Newport Beach, California, the Courage Campaign protested Republican House Speaker John Boehner.[10][11]

In the wake of the Sandy Hook school shooting, the Courage Campaign worked to pressure large retailers, including Walmart, to stop selling assault rifles, joining with SumOfUs.org, MoveOn.org and MomsRising to deliver hundreds of thousands of signatures to their store in Newtown, Massachusetts.[12] The Courage Campaign also lobbied Apple to increase the recommended age from 4 to 12 for the NRA’s new shooting app.[13]

In March 2013, Courage Campaign partnered with the DailyKos and MoveOn.org to deliver over 100,000 signatures to the Los Angeles Times opposing a sale of the newspaper, owned by the Tribune Company, to Charles and David Koch.[14] The Courage Campaign and DailyKos members also funded a newspaper ad to appear in the pages of the Times. After the advertising department rejected the ad, Courage Campaign staff revised the ad to add six footnote citations of the Times' own reporting regarding the Kochs. Following the petition delivery, the advertising department relented and the advertisement ran on April 3, 2013.[15]

Playing on the “It Gets Better” campaign, Courage Campaign worked with the American Bridge 21st Century to critique Mitt Romney during the 2012 presidential elections. This was the first project to track Romney’s record on LGBT issues from 1994 to 2012.[16]

References

  1. ↑ Weigel, David (January 22, 2015). "How the Left Stopped One of Its Favorite Billionaires From Running for Senate". Bloomberg. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Richman, Josh (August 6, 2013). "Change of leadership at the Courage Campaign". Political Blotter (Contra Costa Times). Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  3. ↑ McDonald, Patrick Range (January 29, 2010). "Prop. 8 Trial: Did Courage Campaign Out-Hustle Equality California?". LA Weekly. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  4. ↑ Kliff, Sarah (June 27, 2012). "If Obamacare falls, California groups plan a single-payer push". Washington Post. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  5. ↑ Finnegan, Michael (August 6, 2013). "Rick Jacobs of liberal advocacy group joins Garcetti team". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  6. ↑ Rainey, James (December 7, 2012). "COMMENTARY Calif. liberals say tax-hiking Prop. 30 could be model for U.S.". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  7. ↑ Evans, Will (August 4, 2008). "Profile: Progress Now Action". NPR. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  8. ↑ "'Flash mob' targets Michele Bachmann on gay issues". The Sacramento Bee. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  9. ↑ “With same-sex marriage on hold, elderly and ailing couples face a length appeals process.”. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on 2011-12-23.
  10. ↑ "Protesters disrupt John Boehner's golf game in Newport Beach". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  11. ↑ "Protesters interrupt John Boehner's golf game". MSNBC. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  12. ↑ "Anti-gun protesters target Newton-area Walmart ". Retrieved on 2013-01-15.
  13. ↑ “Apple, bowing to outraged New York politicians, raises age restriction on violent NRA shooting app for iPhones and iPods from 4 to 12”. Retrieved on 2013-02-26.
  14. ↑ "Activists Warn Rumored Sale to Turn LA Times Into Another Fox News".
  15. ↑ "Los Angeles Times relents and decides to run anti-Koch ad".
  16. ↑ “Web campaign targets Romney’s ‘extreme anti-LGBT agenda’” Retrieved on 2013-02-26.

External links