Courage Campaign

Last updated
Courage Campaign
Courage Campaign logo.jpg
FormationNovember 3, 2006;13 years ago (2006-11-03) [1]
20-4841338 [2]
Legal status 501(c)(4) advocacy organization [2]
Location
Membership
Over 1 million members [3]
Jamie McGurk
Eddie Kurtz [4]
AffiliationsCourage Campaign Institute,
Courage Campaign Super PAC [2]
Revenue (2014)
$346,372 [2]
Expenses (2014)$479,610 [2]
Employees (2013)
15 [2]
Website www.couragecampaign.org

Founded in 2005, the Courage Campaign is a state-based 501(c)(4) progressive grassroots advocacy organization based in California. [5] The organization claims an online grassroots activism network of over 1 million members. The group works on a variety of progressive causes including LGBT equality, gun control and healthcare reform, including support of single-payer health care. [6] [7] [8] The group has taken a role in various California statewide ballot measures, including supporting Proposition 30 and opposing Proposition 32 in 2012. [9]

Progressivism in the United States is a broadly based reform movement that reached its height early in the 20th century. It was middle class and reformist in nature. It arose as a response to the vast changes brought by modernization, such as the growth of large corporations, pollution and fears of corruption in American politics. In the 21st century, progressives continue to embrace concepts such as environmentalism and social justice. While the modern progressive movement may be characterized as largely secular in nature, by comparison, the historical progressive movement was to a significant extent rooted in and energized by religion.

Contents

The Courage Campaign's EqualityOnTrial.com was founded to cover the Perry v. Schwarzenegger trial when the courtroom forbade live television coverage. The Courage Campaign is an affiliate of ProgressNow. [10]

ProgressNow, previously the Rocky Mountain Progressive Network, is a progressive 501(c)(4) advocacy organization in the United States. Founded in 2003, ProgressNow bills itself as a network of state based communications hubs which act as a marketing department for progressive ideas.

Activities

In 2011, the Courage Campaign organized a flash mob protest against Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann. Over fifty people danced to Madonna’s hit "Like a Prayer" outside of the 2011 California Republican Party convention. The protest called attention to Bachmann’s connections to reparative therapy. [11]

Minnesota State in the United States

Minnesota is a state in the Upper Midwest, Great Lakes, and northern regions of the United States. Minnesota was admitted as the 32nd U.S. state on May 11, 1858, created from the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory. The state has many lakes, and is known as the "Land of 10,000 Lakes". Its official motto is L'Étoile du Nord.

A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. Member of Parliament (MP) is an equivalent term in other, unaffiliated jurisdictions.

Michele Bachmann American politician

Michele Marie Bachmann is an American politician and a member of the Republican Party. She represented Minnesota's 6th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2007 to 2015. The district includes St. Cloud and several of the northern suburbs of the Twin Cities.

When the California Supreme Court decided it would take six months to rule on the next phase of the Proposition 8 trial, Courage Campaign asked its members for testimony to back the legal challenge of Proposition 8 and other gay-rights litigation. More than 3,000 stories came in. [12]

While he was holding a fundraiser during a visit to the Pelican Hill Resort in Newport Beach, California, the Courage Campaign protested Republican House Speaker John Boehner. [13] [14]

Newport Beach, California City in California in the United States

Newport Beach is a coastal city in Orange County, California, United States. Newport Beach is known for good surfing and sandy beaches. Newport Harbor once supported maritime industries but today it is used mostly for recreation. Balboa Island draws visitors with a waterfront path easy access from the ferry to the shops and restaurants. Its population was 85,287 at the 2010 census.

Republican Party (United States) Major political party in the United States

The Republican Party, also referred to as the GOP, is one of the two major political parties in the United States; the other is its historic rival, the Democratic Party.

Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Presiding Officer of the US House of Representatives

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In the wake of the Sandy Hook school shooting, the Courage Campaign worked to pressure large retailers, including Walmart, to stop selling assault rifles, joining with SumOfUs.org, MoveOn.org and MomsRising to deliver hundreds of thousands of signatures to their store in Newtown, Connecticut. [15] The Courage Campaign also lobbied Apple to increase the recommended age from 4 to 12 for the NRA’s new shooting app. [16]

Newtown, Connecticut Town in Connecticut, United States

Newtown is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It is part of the greater Danbury metropolitan area as well as the New York metropolitan area. Newtown was founded in 1705 and later incorporated in 1711. As of the 2010 census, its population was 27,560. The western half of Newtown is one of the most affluent areas in Connecticut.

In March 2013, Courage Campaign partnered with the DailyKos and MoveOn.org to deliver over 100,000 signatures to the Los Angeles Times opposing a sale of the newspaper, owned by the Tribune Company, to Charles and David Koch. [17] The Courage Campaign and DailyKos members also funded a newspaper ad to appear in the pages of the Los Angeles Times. After the advertising department rejected the ad, Courage Campaign staff revised the ad to add six footnote citations of the Los Angeles Times own reporting regarding the Kochs. Following the petition delivery, the advertising department relented and the advertisement ran on April 3, 2013. [18]

Playing on the “It Gets Better” campaign, Courage Campaign worked with the American Bridge 21st Century to critique Mitt Romney during the 2012 presidential elections. This was the first project to track Romney’s record on LGBT issues from 1994 to 2012. [19]

Leadership

Rick Jacobs was the founding chair of the Courage Campaign. In 2013, Jacobs took a leave of absence from the group and was replaced by Paul Song. [20] In November 2014, Eddie Kurtz became Executive Director. [21]

Courage Campaign Institute is a separately incorporated 501(c)(3) charitable organization that educates, defends, and extends human rights and civil rights. [2]

Courage Campaign Super PAC is a separately incorporated super PAC that supports and opposes candidates for federal office. [2]

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References

  1. ↑ "Courage Campaign Archived 2015-03-15 at the Wayback Machine ". Business Search. California Secretary of State. Accessed on April 20, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax". Courage Campaign. Guidestar. June 30, 2014.
  3. ↑ https://twitter.com/couragecampaign
  4. ↑ "Who We Are". Courage Campaign. Accessed on April 20, 2016.
  5. ↑ Weigel, David (January 22, 2015). "How the Left Stopped One of Its Favorite Billionaires From Running for Senate". Bloomberg. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  6. ↑ McDonald, Patrick Range (January 29, 2010). "Prop. 8 Trial: Did Courage Campaign Out-Hustle Equality California?". LA Weekly. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  7. ↑ Kliff, Sarah (June 27, 2012). "If Obamacare falls, California groups plan a single-payer push". Washington Post. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  8. ↑ Finnegan, Michael (August 6, 2013). "Rick Jacobs of liberal advocacy group joins Garcetti team". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  9. ↑ Rainey, James (December 7, 2012). "COMMENTARY Calif. liberals say tax-hiking Prop. 30 could be model for U.S." Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  10. ↑ Evans, Will (August 4, 2008). "Profile: Progress Now Action". NPR. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  11. ↑ "'Flash mob' targets Michele Bachmann on gay issues". The Sacramento Bee . Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  12. ↑ “With same-sex marriage on hold, elderly and ailing couples face a length appeals process.”. Los Angeles Times . Retrieved on 2011-12-23.
  13. ↑ "Protesters disrupt John Boehner's golf game in Newport Beach". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  14. ↑ "Protesters interrupt John Boehner's golf game". NBC News . Retrieved 2012-01-13.
  15. ↑ "Anti-gun protesters target Newton-area Walmart ". Retrieved on 2013-01-15.
  16. ↑ “Apple, bowing to outraged New York politicians, raises age restriction on violent NRA shooting app for iPhones and iPods from 4 to 12”. Retrieved on 2013-02-26.
  17. ↑ "Activists Warn Rumored Sale to Turn LA Times Into Another Fox News".
  18. ↑ "Los Angeles Times relents and decides to run anti-Koch ad".
  19. ↑ “Web campaign targets Romney’s ‘extreme anti-LGBT agenda’” Retrieved on 2013-02-26.
  20. ↑ Richman, Josh (August 6, 2013). "Change of leadership at the Courage Campaign". Political Blotter. Contra Costa Times. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  21. ↑ "Eddie Kurtz Named Courage Campaign’s New Executive Director", Courage Campaign, November 12, 2014
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