From: laura@hoptoad.uucp (Laura Creighton)
Newsgroups: soc.motss
Subject: Re: Colorado's Amendment 2
Date: 17 Nov 92 18:30:24 GMT
Reply-To: laura@hoptoad.UUCP (Laura Creighton)
Organization: Nebula Consultants in San Francisco

In article <1992Nov9.114958.5833@macc.wisc.edu> anderson@macc.wisc.edu (Jess Anderson) writes:
>
>In article <38286@hoptoad.uucp> laura@hoptoad.UUCP (Laura
>Creighton) writes:
>
>>In article <1992Nov5.021230.29953@macc.wisc.edu>
>>anderson@macc.wisc.edu (Jess Anderson) writes:
>
>>>[...]
>
>>What the hell is this?  
>
>Not about HP, certainly.
>
>>Let's not buy H/P products, built and
>>sold by our Gaypeople friends, because they coldn't overcome those
>>jerks who want (and have) taken away  their rights.
>
>>These days it is tough enough to be a Gayperson.  Let's now get her or
>>him unemployed as a salute to political correctness.  Fun fun fun --
>>lets burn each other while the country goes to hell.
>
>It seems to me a strong economic signal can be sent to the
>State of Colorado and its populace without doing undue
>injury to our friends there.  It seems to me most people
>here have been advocating that.  It's possible, perhaps
>likely, that an economic boycott would hurt some of our
>friends as well as (one hopes, many more) of our enemies.
>Did aversion to political correctness keep you from
>supporting other anti-apartheid boycotts, too?

Personal boycotts are good for the soul.  I won't buy anything
made in Mainland China.

Targetted boycotts work. (well, sometimes they work.)

Boycotting the entire state of Colorado is foolish.
Not being a government, we can't pass laws  preventing people
from trading at all in Colorado.  Not being anything but a
small minority of the population, we can't count on just the
withdrawral of our Gayperson support to make a difference.
We have got to take this boycott to the mainstream in order
for it to work.

Clinton is now making good on his promise to end the ban on
Gaypeople in the military.  This is either the best of times
or the worst of times to run a boycott -- that I can't tell.

If you want to run a boycott, do it right.

Find out who supported OC-2.  This shouldn't be too hard -- they
made flyers, no?  They needed funding, no?  Who funded it?
Find out.

Then target those specific businesses. 

Since we need to get the mainstream in on this, you must get
pickets and march outside those businesses too, asking those
who would have shopped there not to do so.   Remember that in
many locales you have to either be part of a recognised union
(ie -- you don't get to just call yourselves the Gay and
Lesbian Colorado Union --- and the Student Union does not work)
to picket unless you get a parade permit.

Most towns give them out cheap.

Otherwise you will get arrested and then get to defend the fact
that you are only exercising your right of free speach.
You will win that fight, but people who are busy fighting lawsuits
cannot  march at the picket line.

If you end up rounding up an articulate martyr, who badly wants
to be arrested, then you can work your asses off to get media
coverage for this event, and then wait for arresting for not
having a parade permit.

Be careful with those who want to be arrested at any cost, and
those who want tv coverage at any cost.  If you get tv
coverage, you must look like citizens exercising their rights
and not a bunch of hoodlums in for a cheap thrill.

-------------

Does anybody from Colorado want a boycott?
Or is it, as I said before, a bunch of out-of-staters just
feeling good in their self-righteous indignation.
-- 
    Since Ryan White was buried in April 1990, his grave has been vandalized
    *more than* four times.

    (this news courtesy Phil Paxton ipwp400@indycms.bitnet)

Laura Creighton 
toad@toad.com
hoptoad!laura