Stonewall Young Democrats

We would like to thank all our honorees, sponsors, allies, friends and family for attending the 4th Annual Hero Awards!

In two weeks Stonewall Young Democrats will be having its Hero Awards fundraiser… and to a larger extent August 28th will officially mark the 6 Year anniversary of Stonewall Young Democrats. I looked through my digital photo album to see what we should use in our photo gallery exhibit of the organization’s history. And after looking at over 2,000 photos I’ve taken I can’t believe it’s 6 years later now. Grief, where does time go?

I remember when I was in my second year at Cal State Northridge in the fall of 2002 when Don Brewster visited our Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Alliance meeting to try to recruit college students for Stonewall Democratic Club. Go figure I was the one drawn since I knew I couldn’t stay in college forever and be a student leader til I die. A year later he asked if I wanted to be on the Stonewall Democratic Club Pride Planning Committee, which I did.

When I was on summer break in 2004, Don emailed me to see if I was interested in joining a youth-oriented version called Stonewall Young Democrats. I remember when I went to my first meeting at a house on Highland Avenue and met 3 people: Brian Davis, Mike Vorndran, and John Cleary. They were planning an event at the time and I was barely getting a grip on what the hell they were talking about. The rest of that summer, and pretty much 2004 went by in a big blur with a Marriage Equality rally on the corner of San Vicente and Santa Monica Blvd, ‘volunteering’ our SYD founding president into an unorthodox and creative way to raise money for the club, and ending with our first SYD elections after the 2004 elections.

The next 6 years pretty much became one big haze for me at that point, with John Cleary serving two years as SYD President, then being succeeded by Mike Vorndran, followed by Len Nguyen, and then by Shirin Buckman, Shawn Amsler and now with our current president Chris Braun. We fought the in the fight for Marriage Equality, helped to elect LGBT allies, confronted the LAPD when they were baiting gay men into being arrested for lewd conduct, and tried to make a difference all while dealing with growing pains, internal differences, and finding our place in the county political process.

But after six years, SYD is well established within the political arena, the kinks have been ironed out, and pretty much know the generalities of LA politics. We have made a name for ourselves in the Los Angeles area and is seen as an established Democratic Party organization. And yet looking back at the early years, I somewhat miss doing some of the more guerrilla-like tactics that brought SYD to where it’s at today. I think I miss the thrill of being the scrappy new organization being creative and taking more risks than usual to play with the establishment in LA County.

But I wouldn’t trade the valuable experience and lessons that we’ve learned as a group becoming the SYD we are today. Even though the political and cultural climate is different than 6 years ago, we still have a long way to go. Between Marriage Equality, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, Employment Non-Discrimination, Immigration Rights, and numerous other issues Stonewall Young Democrats has enough to tackle for the next few years. Hopefully after looking back, we can all say we helped contribute to making a world closer to a place we can feel safe for the next generation of activists. After all, the one thing we can’t change or influence is time.

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Los Angeles County Democratic Party has canceled this alert!

Rapid Response Alert!

Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Meg Whitman
in Downtown Los Angeles!

Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Meg Whitman will be speaking at an event in downtown Los Angeles focusing on Latino issues.

We need YOU to show eMeg that she is wrong for California and that California is NOT FOR SALE!

Event: Rapid Response – Meg Whitman in Los Angeles
Date: Thursday, August 12, 2010
Time: 3:45 PM
Location: Millennium Biltmore Hotel
506 South Grand Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90071
(Note: Stay on Sidewalk)
Contact:
RapidResponse@lacdp.org

Signs/Posters: eMeg: How Many Votes Did You Buy Today?
Meg - California is Not for Sale
Meg Didn’t Vote for 28 Years, Why Should I Vote for Her?
When Push Comes to Shove, Meg Shoves
Meg Is A Flip-Flopper
Meg: ¡California No Está En Venta!
Meg Tiene Dos Caras

Follow LA County Democratic Party on

*** Purchase your tickets now:***

Stonewall Young Democrats is proud to announce our 4th Annual HERO Awards Ceremony to be held on August 28, 2010 at the Sheraton Hotel. The HERO Awards are designed to honor individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to the advancement of the rights of the LGBT Community.

HONORING:
- Hon. Diane E. Watson, Congresswoman, 33rd District
- Karina Samala, Transgender Community Leader
- Kafi Blumenfield, President/CEO, Liberty Hill Foundation
- Maria E. Durazo, Executive Secretary -Treasurer, Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO
- Carlos Sosa, Youth Community Advocate

Mistress of Ceremonies: Lu Parker, Emmy Award Winning Journalist

Host Committee:
* Ed Buck * Jimmy Gomez * Fred Mariscal * Andrew Lachman * Cynthia Loo * Lindsey Horvath * Darrell L. Tucci *

Tickets:
- General Tickets $50.
- $35 Young Democrats (under 36, includes 1yr. membership)

Sponsorships:
- Diamond Sponsor: $1,000 (4 Tickets and Full Page Ad)
- Emerald Sponsor: $500 (2 Tickets and 1/2 Page Ad)
- Ruby Sponsor: $250 (2 Tickets and 1/4 Page Ad)

Individual Ads:
- Full Page Ad: $800 – 1/2 Page Ad: $400
- 1/4 Page Ad: $200 – Signature Page: $100

Parking: Reduced valet parking and street parking available.

Join Stonewall Young Democrats and Stonewall Democratic Club for our summer BBQ!

RSVP to the event through our Facebook Event page here!

For more information, please contact our Community VP Michael Colorge.

Join the California Young Democrats and Stonewall Young Democrats for Special Election Senate District 15 Get Out the Vote (GOTV) this now-Tuesday, June 22nd–you can choose the campaign office closest to you or you can make calls into the district from your very own couch. Help us elect Democrat and former Assemblymember John Laird and bring Democrats in the Legislature within a striking distance of having a 2/3rds Democratic majority!

A Democrat, Laird (along with Mark Leno) was one of the two first gay men to serve in the California legislature. Laird become one of the United States first openly gay mayors in 1983 when he took over the mayoralty of the city of Santa Cruz, CA.

Phonebanking
Want to make calls from your couch? Contact CYD Executive Director Claire Conlon, CConlon@youngdems.org or 916.595.3090 for the online log-in link and GOTV call script. Yes it is that easy! Your phone call may be the only voter contact a voter in SD 15 gets and the race will be close so your call could be the margin of victory.

During the California Young Democrats convention, we were awarded the Outstanding Chapter for 2010! Thank you for those who helped us with everything and we look forward to another outstanding year!

CYD Region 5 Director and DNC member Becca Doten presents to SYD President Chris Braun the 2010 Outstanding Chapter award

Stonewall Young Democrats award for being the California Young Democrats Outstanding Chapter in 2010

Dear Friends,

It is with great excitement that we announce our endorsements for the November 2010 election. We appreciate the participation of all democratic candidates during our endorsement process and their commitment to the LGBT Community. When you go vote on November 2010 - we kindly ask you to consider and support the following candidates and propositions:

United States Senator - Barbara Boxer

U.S. representative district 27 Brad Sherman*

U.S. representative district 28 Howard Berman*

U.S. representative district 29 Adam Schiff*

U.S. representative district 30 Henry Waxman*

U.S. representative district 31 Xavier Becerra*

U.S. representative district 32 Judy Chu*

U.S. representative district 34 Lucille Roybal-Allard*

U.S. representative district 35 Maxine waters*

U.S. representative district 36 Jane Harman*

U.S. representative district 37 Laura Richardson*

U.S. representative district 38 Grace Napolitano*

U.S. representative district 39 Linda Sanchez*

Governor Jerry Brown

Lieutenant Governor - Gavin Newsom

Secretary of State Debra Bowen*

Attorney General - Kamala Harris