Voting for Change

The organizers of Change.org, a Web-based platform for social movements, decided to kick gridlocked legislation into high gear with a new contest that asked concerned citizens to pitch a spectrum of issues in need of attention. From peacemaking to equal rights, the call to action sparked 2,500 ideas across 20 categories. Those ideas have since been whittled down to just 60.

Now Change.org is looking for the top 10 ideas in a final round of voting, which ends March 12. The list will be presented to officials in the Obama administration -- but this is no simple passing of the buck. Change.org will then commit to mobilizing its followers to participate in grassroots campaigns aimed at making these ideas become reality.

Three moves related to gay rights have made the top 60: Count LGBT people on the U.S. Census, repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, and allow gay and lesbian binational couples to apply for citizenship.

Steve Ralls, the director of communications for Immigration Equality, says his organization was approached by Change.org to submit a proposal to let U.S. citizens sponsor their foreign-born partners to become citizens themselves. A massive push by Immigration Equality members has sent this cause to the top 3 in the immigration category. Currently, it's in 24th place overall.

Even if Immigration Equality's proposal doesn't make the final cut, Ralls said that Change.org has given more visibility to an already ongoing effort to get the Uniting American Families Act on the books. As the House and Senate versions of the bill are awaiting committee action, Immigration Equality is expanding its staff and increasing its lobbying clout.

Credo Action and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force launched the Queer the Census campaign in January, but the Change.org initiative will further raise its visibility. The project hopes to recruit as many people as possible to place a sticker on the back of the envelope containing their U.S. Census form. The sticker reads, "Attn: U.S. Census Bureau, it's time to count everyone!" Participants can then check whether they are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or a straight ally on the sticker.

Jamie Grant, the Task Force's Policy Institute Director, said that adding sexual orientation and gender identity would help the federal government appropriately address issues like domestic AIDS funding and research. It would also benefit economic, safety, and family causes.
Change.org user Kristina Anderson's idea to repeal DOMA and legalize same-sex marriage made it into the final round of voting without a national organization backing her pitch.

"The refusal of Americans to allow same-sex couples to marry will haunt us as one of the graver sins of our country's past, much like the racial segregation of the fifties and preceding decades," she wrote. "Don't allow us to make the same mistake again, INSIST on equality, and INSIST on an end to discrimination."

Currently, the top 10 includes such causes as preserving sustainable food sources and allowing women access to contraception. Vote at Change.org by March 12.