Where are we now?

Dear Members,

Thank you again to everyone who came out and joined our marching contingent in this year’s San Francisco’s Chinese New Year’s Parade! We had the largest contingent ever in the 5 years that we have participated in the Parade.

As many of you know, next week on March 5th, the California Supreme Court will be hearing arguments regarding the validity of Proposition 8 in San Francisco. With all the hustle and bustle, we wanted to take a moment and update you on some of the work we’ve been doing as well as inform you of several important changes and upcoming events.

Over the past few months, API Equality staff has been meeting with local and state coalition partners and members to develop a plan of action for the coming year. Since the election, we had a resurgence of activity and interest and have been working to form a new local steering committee, of both continuing and new coalition members and individuals, who will help lead and advise the work of API Equality over the next months and years. With the formation of our local steering committee, we hope to connect our work more deeply to the communities we represent and to expand our reach and impact across the Bay Area and beyond.

Additionally, we have been collaborating with state and national LGBT leaders to review lessons learned from the No on 8 Campaign and to start identifying overall next steps. Over the next few weeks, we will be co-sponsoring a series of events focused on moving the community forward from Prop 8 and preparing for the oral arguments.

Finally, on a sad note, due to the recent funding challenges, complicated by the economic climate, API Equality will be saying good-bye to our community organizer, Amos Lim, at the end of March. Amos has been a strong addition to the API Equality team and we are extremely sad to lose him. While we continue to face similar challenges, API Equality, as a whole, remains robust and will continue to endeavor as we secure full equality under the law.

In Solidarity,
Tawal Panyacosit Jr., Director
API Equality | www.apiequality.org