Two prominent grassroots gay rights
groups are teaming up to raise $1 million on Facebook for gay rights.
Equal
Roots and FAIR
(Freedom Action Inclusion Rights), two groups conceived during
California's fight against Proposition 8, the 2008 voter-approved gay
marriage ban, say they'll raise $1 million utilizing social network
Facebook.
At the Facebook group I
Bet We Can Find 1,000,000 People With $1 For LGBT Equality
members are asked to give $1 towards gay rights.
The social media fundraising campaign
is the brainchild of Equal Roots co-founding board member Christopher
Smith and FAIR co-founder and current co-chair Alisa Sommer.
“Chris and I were talking about the
'1 Million People' groups on Facebook and wanted to see if we could
engage people one step further. We know people care about this
cause. Not everyone is going door-to-door or planning rallies, but
everyone has $1 for equality,” Sommer said. “This is a
grassroots experiment to challenge people who might otherwise not
engage to commit one step further.”
FAIR created a stir last year when it
auctioned off Shepard Fairey DEFEND EQUALITY LOVE UNITES memorabilia
autographed – and in some cases customized – by Hollywood
celebrities and political leaders, including Julia Roberts, Robert De
Niro and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, to raise money and
awareness for gay marriage.