On Sunday, September 20, 2009, Join the Impact MA (“JTIMA”) is holding an open meeting at 3 PM at the Old West Church, 131 Cambridge St., in Boston. The gathering aims to generate interest in the Oct. 10-11 LGBT National Equality March on Washington, DC and to welcome aboard new activists interested in working for full equality. Along with the March on Washington, the meeting agenda will focus on the campaign to preserve marriage equality in Maine and ways Bay Staters can help.
JTIMA is offering travel packages to facilitate Greater Boston area participation in the National Equality March. For $89 round trip transportation (Boston to Washington and back) is available, for 2 day trips leaving 10 PM on Friday, October 9, and for 1 day stays, leaving 10 PM on Saturday, October 10. Buses will return to Boston at 10 PM on Sunday, October 11. $149 includes one night’s hotel accommodation at the Crowne Plaza in Silver Spring, MD as part of the two-day travel package. The hotel offers ready access to downtown Washington via a nearby Metro Station. Reservations can be made online at www.jointheimpact.com .
The National Equality March is the first opportunity to come together for the grassroots activists who’ve turned on across the country since passage of Proposition 8. On Saturday October 10th, LGBT attendees will be able to network and go to workshops, conferences, and programs organized by Join the Impact, the Human Rights Campaign, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance against Defamation, and other community organizations. The March itself takes place on Sunday, October 11th, starting at 12:00. Energy generated locally by the March will be channeled into the pro-equality campaign in Maine, to introduce newly-mobilized volunteers for the final few weeks leading up to the November 3, 2009 referendum.
Commenting on the September 20 open meeting and the March on Washington, JTIMA Board member and March organizer Don Gorton indicated that Massachusetts college LGBT organizations and GSA’s were particular targets of outreach. “We can renew momentum for full equality by activating a new generation of LGBT leaders who can see the dream of equal protection in all matters governed by civil law in all 50 states through to fruition,” Gorton said.
