THE POWER IS YOURS because you are THE POWER.

JOIN THE POWER in holding political leaders accountable to support equality for LGBT people, not on some arbitrary and convenient schedule, but right now.

THE POWER is an ongoing effort organize for LGBT equality in New York and elsewhere, developing relationships, tools, and resources to empower the general public to become less dependent on professional advocates and more active participants in the fight ahead.

Please:

1. SIGN The Power Petition for Equal Rights at http://www.ThePowerOnline.org.
2. FORWARD the petition to everyone you know.
2. POST This group to your profile.
3. INVITE all your friends, straight and gay
4. VISIT THE POWER ON YOUTUBE at http://www.youtube.com/user/ThePowerCast
5. FORWARD OUR ACTIONS to all your friends, on and off Facebook.

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Background:

THE POWER is the outgrowth of a Facebook group that harnessed the spontaneous grass roots energy that errupted in the aftermath of Proposition 8 to pressure a group of rogue Democratic New York State Senators known as "The Gang of Three" (Ruben Diaz, Sr., Carl Kruger, and Pedro Espada, Jr.) to abandon a scheme to back an anti-marriage Republican (Dean Skelos) over a pro-marriage Democrat (Malcolm Smith) for majority leader. Through thousands and thousands of calls to anti-gay Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr., we put him and other legislators on notice that the people are prepared to take the fight for equality to our opponents in their own districts, and that we won't give up until we prevail.

On December 6th, The Gang of Three made a deal which gives Democrats control of the State Senate for the first time in forty years and which will make Malcolm Smith the President Pro Tempore, enabling introudction of marriage legislation in 2009.

Unfortunately, rumors surfaced in the press that as part of the deal, Smith had agreed to table marriage legislation until after the 2010 gubernatorial election. Though there has been no official confirmation of such a deal, it became clear that the thousands of people assembling under the banner of the old Facebook group needed and wanted to assemble under a different banner that wasn't tied to any one specific politician or political party, specifically for the purpose of pursuing marriage equality in New York. Since Facebook does not allow anyone to change the name of a group after it has been created, the only solution was to create a new group with a more generic name.

Thus, The Power.

Our efforts helped take marriage equality off the negotiating table as the senators tried to work out a deal that would result in Democratic control. On January 10, Malcolm Smith was finally elected Senate Majority Leader.

With this hurdle behind us, we continue to organize for equality in New York and elsewhere

With this group we will:

1. Gather support nationwide for leaders who support LGBT equality and to organize opposition to leaders who don't.
2. Organize demonstrations that will make elected officials aware of our political power and that will apply political pressure toward the goal of achieving LGBT equality.
3. Organize efforts to oppose any effort on the part of any legislator to remove LGBT equality from the agenda.

We will work in concert with other groups such as JoinTheImpact.com and Civil Rights Front whenever appropriate. There will be fairly frequent updates.

By joining this group you agree to receive these updates. That said, please stay involved and informed about how you can take action.

IF YOU ARE A LEADER OF AN ORGANIZATION OR GROUP OF ANY KIND: Please contact Jeffrey Campagna about becoming an officer of this group.

THE OFFICERS OF THIS GROUP SUPPORT THIS GROUP IN THEIR INDIVIDUAL CAPACITIES ONLY. Affiliations are provided for identification purposes only and do not necessarily constitute an endorsement by any organization.
(minus lege)

THE POWER IS YOURS because you are THE POWER.

JOIN THE POWER in holding political leaders accountable to support equality for LGBT people, not on some arbitrary and convenient schedule, but right now.

THE POWER is an ongoing effort organize for LGBT equality in New York and elsewhere, developing relationships, tools, and resources to empower the general public to become less dependent on professional advocates and more active participants in the fight ahead.

Please:

1. SIGN The Power... (legere plus)