Did the summer get away from you and you’re left with 40 hours and you’d rather do anything besides try to schedule that family visit in December?

Well, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has taken on the role of travel agent and is lining up GLBT folks from across the country for an October holiday.

No, it isn’t a cruise in the Caribbean with 250 of your favorite lesbian comics.

No, it isn’t a weekend white party with 1,000 of your favorite club boys.

And no, it isn’t a black-and-blue festival for leatherfolk.

This is a New England holiday, a meet-up in Maine, where, next month, Mainers and their out-of-state allies will be courting votes to defend marriage rights against a wrong-wing attack.

In May, through the legislative process not the courts, Maine became the fifth state in the United States to legalize same-sex marriage.

But GLBT civil rights advocates were not surprised that anti-gay organizations launched a petition drive urging a “people’s veto” of the new law.

The ballot measure was certified earlier this month and in the November referendum election voters will decide Question 1 on the ballot, which will read, “Do you want to reject the new law that lets same-sex couples marry and allows individuals and religious groups to refuse to perform these marriages?”

There is a dispute over whether some questionable fundraising tactics might have put the measure on the ballot, but state officials may not be able to resolve the dispute before the Nov. 3 election.

So supporters of marriage equality are rallying a No on 1 campaign and the NGLTF, partnering in the effort, is seeking volunteer vacationers or vacationing volunteers to connect with fair-minded people and prevent a repeat of the California Proposition 8 vote.

“We need volunteers who can commit to spending at least a week in Maine in October to be part of an unprecedented get-out-the-vote operation,” reads the action alert from the NGLTF. “We have several shifts to choose from, each lasting one week. If you can, feel free to take more than one shift.”

This would not be an all-expense-paid vacation of course. Volunteer vacationers need to get to Portland —  “nestled between Maine’s forest-covered mountains and spectacular rugged coast, a rough-hewn gem of New England” — and back home, unless the Pine Tree State proves to captivating to leave.

Volunteer vacationers also need to cover incidentals, including food — but oh, what food you’ll find on that working holiday in Maine. Lobster. Steelhead trout. Cod. Chowder. Mustard pickles. Wild berries. Buckwheat pancakes. Maple butter. Moxie.

No on 1/NGLTF organizers are lining up housing and readying crash courses to teach volunteer vacationers strategies for courting the vote.

And, for those who want to mix play with work, I can promise Maine is a superb vacation destination, especially in the fall, when the leaves burst with color and the temperatures mellow.

Time your travel just right and you might catch Portland’s Harvest on the Harbor, the state’s largest food and wine celebration.

Time your travel to book-end the campaign work with some sightseeing and you might get to see the world’s only full-size chocolate moose (in Scarborough), hike a stretch of the Appalachian Trail, shop at L.L. Bean, sip a Sebago Lake Trout Stout, take a “Wicked Walking Tour” of haunted Portland, shout “Thar she blows” on a whale cruise and get lost looking for the Bush compound in Kennebunkport.

If you take that Maine volunteer vacation, send 365gay.com a postcard.

And, for those who can’t trek to Maine, join the stay-cation volunteer campaign. Pledge support or donate to No on 1/Protect Maine Equality.

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, a leader in building grassroots lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) political power, endorses the National Equality March, which will be held in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 10–11. Thousands of people from across the country will march and rally in front of the U.S. Capitol demanding equal protection under the law for LGBT people and their families in all 50 states. At the march, the Task Force will engage new activists, support fair minded clergy and other people of faith, and mobilize volunteer activists to return home engaged and energized.

“For the past 30 years, LGBT people and our allies have come together in Washington to be inspired, to engage in political action, and to go home geared up to create change. The National Equality March will bring together those of us who have never marched, those who want to renew their passion for action, and those who demand their voices be heard. When we mobilize for LGBT equality, for racial and economic justice, for a transformed society, and to make our love and lives visible, the Task Force is there. The Task Force will be there at the march to support the voices of new activists, LGBT people and our allies who push and push for the end to hatred, discrimination and unjust laws,” says National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Executive Director Rea Carey.

As part of its commitment to support march participants in fighting for local, state and federal change, the Task Force will:

Utilize technology to connect people to concrete actions they can take on the local, state and national levels.

Lend its faith organizing expertise in helping to plan an interfaith worship service

Work to connect state equality organizations and community centers with march participants the Task Force identifies from their states so they can further engage them to be active at home

Engage march participants in ballot campaigns under way in Maine, Washington state and Kalamazoo, Mich

Engage and support new activists in honing their talents and grassroots skills after the weekend of the march

Consistent with the march goal of seeking equality in all 50 states, the Task Force will maintain its longstanding commitment to provide organizers, expertise and money for key ballot measure fights under way in Maine, Washington state and Kalamazoo, Mich. The Task Force will reach out to march participants from these states to channel their energy to create change back home.

March attendees who want to further develop their skills and strategize with other activists will be encouraged to attend the National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change just a few months later in Dallas, Texas.

“The Task Force is excited to support a new wave of activists and advocates. Whether you come to D.C. to march or stay at home to create change in your city, town, school or place of worship, the Task Force has the tools and know-how to help. Let’s march in Washington and step it up at home,” says Carey.

“We can wait for the president to try to move members of Congress, or we can redouble our efforts and get about doing that work ourselves,” Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said Thursday.

The two most contentious proposals on the activists’ agenda – both backed by Obama during his election campaign – would extend federal recognition to same-sex partnerships and repeal the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that bars gays from serving openly in the military.

The president says he wants to work with Congress to achieve both goals, but many gay-rights activists contend he is moving too slowly and hesitantly. The frustration was eased only slightly, if at all, when Obama signed a memorandum Wednesday extending limited benefits to the same-sex partners of gay federal employees.

“The atmospherics were fine, but the substance was zero,” Ethan Geto, a New York-based activist and political consultant, said of the signing ceremony.

Obama’s problem with the gay community, Geto said, stems largely from the high expectations raised by his campaign rhetoric.

“He said the gay-rights agenda would be a priority for his administration – and he received an enormous amount of support from the community,” Geto said. “Now people are beginning to really question his commitment. … Gay donors are running away in droves.”

Evan Wolfson of Freedom to Marry, which campaigns nationally for gay marriage rights, said he remains optimistic over the long term because the American public “is ready for change.”

“What we need now is leadership from the president, Congress and state officials to deliver that change,” he said. “I’m frustrated and disappointed that the administration has not yet delivered on the vision we share for a more equal America.”

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., the longest serving of the three openly gay members of Congress, said many activists placed unrealistic expectations on Obama and underestimated the need to lobby Congress relentlessly in the style of the National Rifle Association.

“It’s not that Obama doesn’t want to do it, but you need the votes,” Frank said. “You can’t complain about the president until you’ve called your senator.”

Leaders of some national gay-rights organizations acknowledged Frank’s point.

“We’re working hard to secure the needed votes,” said Rea Carey of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. “All these issues will take work on the part of Congress as well as the president.”

The gay-rights bill closest to a vote in Congress would expand the federal hate-crimes law to cover anti-gay violence. It has passed the House and is awaiting a Senate vote, but Solmonese said its backers are proceeding cautiously, wary of possible Republican maneuvers to derail it.

Later this year, action is possible on a bill that would outlaw workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

There’s no timetable, however, for the pending bill to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell.” Obama says he wants to build support for the change among military commanders before urging Congress to move ahead.

Gay-rights leaders concede that Obama has his hands full with wars, recession, health care reform and other challenges, but they nonetheless feel slighted – compared to other liberal constituencies – by a president who, during the campaign, said he would be a “fierce advocate” for gay rights.

“Show us you are indeed that fierce advocate,” said Jody Huckaby, executive director of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.

Huckaby said he was particularly dismayed last week when Obama’s Justice Department defended the Defense of Marriage Act, which allows states to reject other states’ legal gay marriages and prohibits federal recognition of any same-sex partnerships. As candidate, Obama promised to repeal the act.

On the other hand, some conservative activists continue to decry Obama’s commitment to a “radical homosexual agenda” and have launched protests against some of the gays appointed to administration jobs. The prime target at the moment is Kevin Jennings, founder of the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network, who has been named to oversee the Education Department’s Office of Safe & Drug Free Schools.

Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said the responsibility for inaction on gay-rights priorities lies with both Obama and Congress.

“It’s shocking to realize we still live a country where gay and lesbian people can’t serve openly in the military, have no federal protections in the private workplace, and same-sex couples are entitled to no benefits under federal law,” Minter said.

“There’s so much anger in our community. We expect the president and Congress to move forward.”

When it came to gay rights, Jack Kemp was part of the GOP mainstream. Which explains why he was loved by many conservatives (that and the intellectual foundation he gave to supply side economics).  A 1996 joint press release by the Human Rights Campaign and National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (I love their quip about gay marriage) rightfully takes Kemp to task for many of his positions,  but a spokesman for  HRC describes Kemp in a way that is revealing.

“Jack Kemp, while not as acerbic as some of his colleagues, has a solid anti-gay record nonetheless,” said HRC spokesperson David M. Smith.

Kemp was on the wrong side in the gay rights debate (no way to defend wanting to fire public school teachers who might be gay), but he lacked the bitter histrionics of  many of his peers. He was a political enemy you could have a conversation with. Granted that might be a low bar of expectations, but in a time where everything is a shout and epithet this is something not to be summarily dismissed.

While Kemp was deaf to gay rights, he was way ahead of his party on race. Kemp always demanded Republicans to do their best to break the Democratic hold on the black community. The GOP never listened of course, but that says more about the cold calculus of Republicans than Kemp. To my conservatives sisters out there: I know the Democratic Party’s shameful history when it comes to race and I think, as the gay marriage debate has shown, there are some GOP votes waiting to be mined in the black community.

Backwards on gay rights, ahead of the curve on black issues. Kemp’s political legacy is more complicated than most partisans will make it out to be.

PS: I know there are rumors circulating about the man’s sexuality. That debate is above my pay grade. Even if they are true, Kemp’s takes on the issues are what count. Not his past bed mates.

The Creating Change conference sponsored by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is the nation’s largest annual convening of LGBT rights activists. It came amidst a national sense of letdown and finger pointing over the passage of Proposition 8 in California which overturned a state Supreme Court ruling allowing same-sex marriage. In addition to the ban in California, voters also passed anti-gay marriage amendments in Florida and Arizona and approved a ban on gay adoption in Arkansas.

The conference looked at ways of reversing constitutional bans on gay marriage and promoting LGBT rights at the state level.  It also included sessions geared toward effecting change at the federal level, including passage of the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act, and inclusive ENDA and repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

“It has been a bittersweet year, but the state of our movement is engaged,” said NGLTF Executive Director Rea Carey in her “State of the Movement” address.

“You know, there are years when our movement for full equality jumps by leaps and bounds and other years when we toil to gain every inch of ground. This year has been a bit of both in which we made progress on the local and state level and our country elected its first person of color to the presidency! Yet our love for each other was attacked again by the majority at the ballot box; our right to marry was taken away in California; our transgender brothers and sisters were denied much needed protections; and federal policy continued to elude us under the evil empire… I mean the Bush administration.”

Among those who spoke at the conference was U.S. Rep Jared Polis (D). The openly gay member of Congress from Colorado said that the country is on the “threshold of making tremendous progress.”

“Americans are a good people who want to be fair. It’s up to your work every day in your communities to show people the way,” he told the convention.

Among the speakers were Dolores Huerta, the Co-founder of the United Farm Workers Union; Dr. Marjorie J. Hill, the Chief Executive Officer of Gay Men’s Health Crisis; and Rea Carey, Executive Director, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

But there also was time for some levity with participation from comic Kate Clinton and drag performers The Kinsey Sicks.

Organizers said it is the nation’s largest convening of LGBT rights activists.

“While the November 2008 election produced what many are hoping will be the most LGBT-friendly administration in history, it also produced some setbacks with the passage of anti-LGBT initiatives in states such as Arizona, Arkansas, California and Florida,” the NGLTF said in a statement.

Conference participants will hear first-hand accounts and perspectives from statewide LGBT leaders, discuss lessons learned and strategize on how to defeat future attacks against LGBT families.

An entire session at the conference will be devoted to Proposition 8, the California amendment which bars same-sex marriage, approved by voters last November.

The conference also includes sessions geared toward effecting change at the federal level, including passage of the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act, and inclusive ENDA and repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

Other sessions will focus on LGBT rights battles in other states. Organizers said they hoped delegates would bring home with them the best ideas that have been successful elsewhere.

Among the speakers are Dolores Huerta, the Co-founder of the United Farm Workers Union; Dr. Marjorie J. Hill, the Chief Executive Officer of Gay Men’s Health Crisis; and Rea Carey, Executive Director, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

But there also will be time for some levity with participation from comic Kate Clinton and drag performers The Kinsey Sicks.

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force study that looked at race and religion in the Proposition 8 vote is being called into question by Timothy Kincaid over at Box Turtle. I’ll spend no time going through Kincaid’s methodology mainly because numbers contests can be boring (what’s that quip about statistics?). However, there are two things Kincaid says that need discussion.

He starts by bemoaning that ever since Dr. King’s death there has not been “frank discussions about race.” Whenever the words frank, discussions, and race are used in the same sentence I get nervous because usually  the next line is how crazy those colored folk be. Those words are also problematic because this is America we are talking about. When was the last time we had a “frank” talk about anything? Did we talk frankly about race when King was around? I can name a few folk who would say no.

With that said, Kincaid’s words need to be read because he says something that requires serious thought.

“The fact is – regardless of how much NGLTF would wish otherwise – that the gay community does not truly have a strategic alliance with black voters.”

This is something I’ve been saying for awhile. Don’t think so? Go here, here, and here. While the mainstream civil rights organizations are always putting out press releases supporting each other’s work, this hasn’t translated to voters on the street. Socially conservative black citizens and gay citizens  eye each other with suspicion, especially if we are looking at folk who identify and/or vote as Democrats. If the Prop 8 vote did anything, it made the “we are the world” cover impossible to use anymore.

Can these two groups see eye to eye? I doubt it mainly because both are unwilling to let go of their own spin and moral outrage. Alliances are never formed with either around.

P.S.: I really don’t want to say this but I know how the game is played: if anyone accuses me of calling Kincaid a racist, step away from the computer and go sign up for a reading course. Today.

1. They attended religious services weekly

2. They were Republicans

3. They were conservatives

4. They were born before World War II

It is these factors, rather than race or gender, that made the difference – the researchers say that no more than 58 percent of African-Americans voted yes on Prop 8, putting them in line with all other ethnic groups.

We’ll have a news story on this with more details later (and a link to the report), but I thought this was important, and that we should get something up about it quickly.

There was a long conversation on the call about what the next steps might be. One interesting discovery – the vote wasn’t influenced by whether someone knew a gay person. One researcher made the point that opposition to gay marriage isn’t personal – it’s partsian. If you’re Republican, religious, conservative, you will be against it, no matter how many gay people you wave to at the grocery store.

Nevertheless, folks at the Task Force thinks that LGBT Christians should try outreach in their own churches. They say that substantial conversations may have an impact. And they say we need to make stronger, better, more frequent arguments to religious leaders about how it is a moral good to support all families, not just straight ones.

Your thoughts?