The new sign has arrived on E Pike — now an approve R74 action center is in place (Image: David Flood)
Washington United For Marriage opened up its new “Action Center” on Capitol Hill last week. Located on 511 E Pike in the same building as the new spaces for Kaladi Brothers Coffee and Gay City, the Action Center will serve as a headquarters for volunteer training in the effort to convince Washington voters to approve Referendum 74 this November and help the state achieve marriage equality.
“Putting the new action center on Capitol Hill was very intentional,” said Andy Grow, communications director with WUM. “Capitol Hill is our core, and home to really supportive people that want to help.”
The hope is that the new Action Center will be easier to access than its other headquarters and far more visible.
Here’s what is underway at the new center:
– Training supporters in how to share their stories about why marriage matters to them and why voting to Approve Referendum 74 is so critical for all Washington families.
– Daily phone banks to reach voters and supporters.
– Merchandise sales from the popular WUM t-shirts, to bags, stickers, lawn signs and bumper stickers, all supporting the campaign.
– Seven-day-a-week visibility on one of the busiest streets on Capitol Hill, thereby enabling supporters and others to learn more about Referendum 74 and why marriage matters.
“We’re encouraging our volunteers to have conversations with others, even those already in our support. Vitalizing that core and talking to voters has shown to be one of the most important things we can do based on the other referendums in the country,” Grow said.
Block Party for Gay Marriage
WUM have been extremely busy, making appearances at an average of 20 events a week around the state, with at least 10 people on phone banks at a time, Grow said. Those buying tickets for this year’s Capitol Hill Block Party online have the opportunity to donate an extra dollar for WUM. Block Party is big for the group this year — rockstars and dodgeballers will be rallying behind the cause.
WUM partners at The Block Party Throw Down will be hosting an all day dodgeball bonanza July 21. All proceeds from the event will go straight to WUM. Cal Anderson will turn into a rubbery battle zone with 6 on 6 tournaments and a pickup game with the masses after 10 pm. Team registration will run you $100, individual at $16.
Music For Marriage Equality, another WUM affiliate, will also make an appearance at the festival.
“We are mobilizing artists to use their platform to voice what needs to be hear about this issue,” said project manager Kerri Harrop.
Formed from a coalition of Seattle music scene heavy hitters like Sub Pop, KEXP, and Seattle Theatre Group, the organization have gotten the likes of Ben Gibbard and Macklemore to voice their support for Referendum 74. MME will have t-shirts at Block Party and a photo booth where people can get a chance to appear on its website.
“There are a million volunteer opportunities for this cause,” Harrop said, “Just go to our website and you can find out how to help.”
Anyone have any idea if the 511 Pike St. center has regular hours, and what are they if so? No trace of that on the website.
Music4Marriage’s support is awesome, but the campaign to preserve Washington’s same-sex marriage rights is really trying to drum into supporters that they should use the word “approve” over “vote yes.” Seems like semantics because they both pretty much mean the same thing, but at the end of the day, the voter has to tick “approve” on the ballot, not “yes.” You’d be surprised at how simplistic the average voter can be, and not telling them the exact word that will appear on the ballot actually costs votes due to confusion.