John Lewis and Stuart Gaffney at a UC Berkeley conference on marriage equality. Said Gaffney: All the students signed Postcards to the President, and then they ran out and got everyone at the conference to sign postcards too. Part of the conference theme

“Postcards to the President” is a campaign to flood the White House with personally written postcards urging Congress to support legislation that seeks to repeal the homophobic Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) against queers legally marrying. The campaign is gaining momentum nationwide - in a time when there is finally a glimmer of hope - to fight for queer civil rights on the federal level. Postcards to the President is a grassroots movement, which provides opportunities for everyone to stay active and contribute their time, energy, and talents to furthering the LGBT rights movement. Postcards to the President is currently working with a handful of non-profit organizations including Courage Campaign, Straight Women in Support of Homos, Equal Roots, White Knot, and others to promote the initiative.

Individuals seeking to volunteer at this event have already taken initiative to host more events and take part in distributing postcards to the public. Organizations in Los Angeles, New York City, San Diego, Rochester, Richmond, Boston, Minneapolis, Chicago, Bowling Green, Seattle, Washington DC, and others have also begun to promote and support P2tP. The University of Minnesota, Augsberg College, Illinois State University, University of California San Diego, American University, Phillips Academy Andover, UNC Chapel Hill, and handfuls of other colleges and high schools have taken up this initiative. Tanner Efinger, founder of Postcards to the President urges activists to get involved, saying, “I had no idea that this movement would grow as quickly as it has. Our country is primed for a change and we can attain that by working together.” He emphasizes, “We can and will live in an equal country.” 

Efinger spoke to Bay Times about P2tP.

(Bay Times) How did this originate? What inspired it? 

(Efinger) After the marches and rallies began to die down following Proposition 8, we wanted to stay active in the fight for marriage equality. An advocate.com article suggested a few ways to stay involved - one of which was to send a letter to Obama’s transition team urging for the repeal of DOMA. This suggestion inspired the idea. After that the idea spun around in my head for a few weeks until I saw the movie MILK. It was so inspirational that after the movie, I marched directly to City Hall and spoke with one of the members of the Lesbian and Gay Advisory Board to West Hollywood City Council about getting a postcard donation. It’s amazing what you can achieve simply by asking.

How is it going since we spoke? Locally? Nationwide? 

Things have just seemed to continue and continue. Locally, San Francisco is looking forward to at least two more events that will host P2tP. One evening at Q-bar when you attended, we collected and mailed over 100 postcards. Nationally things look up as well. Monday marks the first event in Minneapolis and 17 other states are priming their communities for large send offs. We have developed a team of national coordinators that have been keeping up with all of the contacts and they all report back in to Beth [the SF contact]. Everyone involved has donated their time and efforts to this movement. It’s been an inspirational journey for us both.  

Why do you think NOW is the time to bring this issue up?

Now is the time for many reasons. The country is primed for so many changes. It is only a matter of time as to when our President deals with an LGBT agenda. I understand the need to be sensitive with how Obama deals with these matters, and that is why it is imperative that we do as much as we can to create a voice of necessity. He will have to respond to a growing movement eventually. He will have to respond to the more liberal younger generation. After all, they are all writing him personally.  

Have you any comments on the bill, “The Military Enhancement Readiness Act,” to repeal Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell?

This is the first I have heard about the bill. I am thrilled that Rep. Ellen Tauscher has presented it. Though we ask that people streamline their postcard message to be about DOMA - I always let people know that they can write whatever they wish. A lot of people write about DA/DT as well. I met one gentleman who serves who sent a postcard from Massachusetts. He explained that he serves this country and honors his commitment. He is gay but cannot talk about it because of the law. Since he cannot be himself and doesn’t want to lie, he is seen as the ‘quiet weird guy.’ The other members of his team cannot form strong connections with him and he doesn’t have many friends. How can he serve in battle with people who don’t trust him? DA/DT is unfortunate on so many levels, and I am so glad that people are working hard to repeal it.

Convince my readers why this campaign should be as important in the struggle for queer rights as the failed attempts in the past No on 8 Campaign.

Safe and equal protection for the LGBT community is vital. Laws like DOMA and DA/DT not only indicate to our second class citizenship, but also fuel the flames of homophobia in this country. Since it is against the law to be openly gay in the Army, and gay marriages are not seen as a legal federal right, this country has no choice but to continue their archaic beliefs that homosexuality is wrong. Our President needs to lead by example, and by him standing out against DOMA and DA/DT will show the country in what direction we are heading.

I know a lot of queers would say, “But why do we need to be married?

Individuals may not wish to get married, and for them, they shouldn’t. Individuals may not with to serve in the military, and for them, they shouldn’t. There are many, many LGBT men and women who would be honored to serve for this country and many, many LGBT men and women who wish to be married to the person they love. We fight for the equal rights of everyone. Once we have the right, we can do what we wish. For example, just because women have the right to vote doesn’t mean they are forced to. 

Anything else you’d like me to relate to Bay Times readers?

I’d like to stress the importance of grassroots initiatives. P2tP was not the efforts of a large established company or a pre-existing group of individuals. We did this from nothing. The LGBT community will only be equal when we can allow apathy to fall to the side and embrace who we are.
So true. 

I’d also like to stress that people who are looking to get more involved - but don’t know how - should visit our website, postcardstothepresident.com. Everything is outlined there, and they can get free artwork for postcards and see where the movement has grown.