AFC Blog

If the McCain campaign does one, we will post it as well.

After aggressive contests in all 50 states, the Democratic Primary has come to an end. If we are to elect Barack Obama president in November, as a community, it’s important that we come together.

With the unified and enthusiastic support of LGBT Americans, our chance of success is much greater. That’s why we need your help to take the next step in supporting Barack.

Tomorrow, Friday, June 6th, at 6:00 p.m. Eastern time, our campaign is hosting a national call for LGBT Americans who are interested in helping Barack.

On this call, we will give a status report of our campaign as a whole, discuss LGBT policy, provide suggestions for how you can be involved and answer questions and hear your concerns.

National LGBT Conference Call
Friday, June 6th, 2008
6:00 p.m. EDT

RSVP for the conference call:

http://pride.barackobama.com/LGBTcall

As a gay American, I couldn’t be more proud to work for Barack Obama. I believe in my heart that he will be a great president with the best judgment to lead our nation. He is a friend and will fight for justice and equality, standing up for our individual rights.

The stakes in this election are very high. A nation led by Barack Obama will stand in stark contrast to that of his opponent.

Please forward this email to others who may be interested in joining the call. If the timing of the call does not work for you, we will schedule another one in the near future.

Join us on the call and learn more about our LGBT program:

http://pride.barackobama.com/LGBTcall

I hope you will get involved and join us on Friday.

Thanks,

Steve

Steve Hildebrand
Deputy Campaign Manager
Obama for America

P.S. — We’ve pulled together a few resources for you to learn more about Barack and LGBT issues.

Learn more:

http://pride.barackobama.com/LGBTcall

AFC Members:

We received the following appeal to us to help out an Asian American who’s running for State Senate. Here’s the information we received: 

I saw the blog post on the AFC’s website regarding Aurora Austriaco and I wanted to get in touch with you to get involved with her race for State Representative in Illinois 65th District. Which includes Park Ridge and its surrounding communities.

Aurora is the first female and minority president of the Illinois Real Estate Lawyers Association, the President of the Asian American Institute and a founding member of the Filipino American Bar Association. Aurora serves as a member of the Asian Advisory Council of the Governor, the Attorney General and the Clerk of the Circuit Court. She is a past board member and a current member of the Asian American Bar Association and is currently serving her fourth term as Chair of the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Asian Advisory Council.

On March 5th we are arranging a fundraiser, “Asian Americans for Aurora Austriaco” and I thought we should work with your organization to rally support. We are asking Sponsors to commit to contributing or raising $500, hosts to commit to contributing or raising $250 and individuals to attend for $50.  I hope your organization will be able to help us out.

As you may know, Illinois has changed its primary election to February 5. Voters can participate in either the Democratic or Republican primary to choose a candidate for county, state and federal office. This includes members of the Illinois General Assembly, the United States Congress and President of the United States.   Regular voter registration ends Tuesday, January 8, 2008

To register or to change you registration status for the primary election you will need to present two forms of identification, including one with your address. Acceptable forms of identification include a valid Illinois driver’s license, social security card, employee or student photo ID, birth certificate, passport, credit card or utility bill postmarked with your address on it.

For more information, visit the Cook County Clerk’s Office website   

Grace-period registration and voting is available from Wednesday, January 09, 2008 - Tuesday, January 22, 2008 only at the Cook County Clerk’s main office.

A friend of mine, Mike D(emetria), who is active in the GLBT community emailed me to let us be aware of an Asian involved in statewide politics. Her name is Aurora Austriaco. I’m just going to go ahead and copy and paste his email here. Some of you have met Mike before or are at least familiar with him. He was visibly active in organizing the Gay Games held here in Chicago. Click Mike D. for his email if you want to get involved. Aurora Austriaco’s contact information is in the website mentioned below. You can also ask me questions if you want.
- Val Z.

All,
I just want to get all your opinion on how we, Filipinos/Asians, can support Aurora Austriaco who is running for state rep 65th district. Aurora works with Ray Koening at Peck/Bloom/Austriaco. Below is her short resume. Maybe we can plan a get together/event to support her.
We can also ask Asian & Friends and other Gay Asian organizations for their support.
Thanks
Mike
“Aurora is running in the 65th District (Park Ridge, Des Plaines) against Republican Rosemary Mulligan. Aurora was born in the Philippines and moved here with her family when she was 18. She attended college and law school here, becoming a very successful lawyer. Her professional bio can be found at http://www.peckbloom.com/aurora-austriaco.html. She is a huge asset to the Asian community, having given back a ton of time and money to address various community needs. She really wants to increase the power of the Asian community as a whole to raise its political power to at least match its size.
Aurora is extremely gay-friendly. I can personally attest to that. She is a staunch supporter of every gay rights issue I raise. She is also vocal about her support.
In short, Aurora is the type of representative Asians and gays need in Springfield. She is smart, tough, persuasive, and personable. She’ll represent the Asian community well – and she will serve as a strong ally of the gay community as well. “