Opponents of equality spend £10k+ on adverts

Dear friend,

Conservative religious groups in Scotland have today splashed out over £10,000 on adverts in national newspapers opposing equal marriage.
The adverts, which appeared in today’s Daily Record, Herald and Scotsman, announce “a new campaign” against equality called “Scotland for Marriage”.

The advert text is as follows [with our comments in brackets]:

“For one man and one woman,
For children, [but not the children of LGBT families]
For love, [but not love between same-sex couples]
For life, [but not the lives of LGBT people]
For good, [if good means discrimination and prejudice]
For Scotland, [but only the 19% of it that agrees with unfair marriage]
For marriage [but only for the people the unfair marriage campaign approve of]
A new campaign group to support marriage and to oppose any plans to redefine it. Scotland for Marriage.”

The campaign is organised by the following groups, all of which are well known for opposing all moves towards LGBT equality:

• CARE for Scotland
• The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Scotland
• The Christian Institute
• Destiny Churches, Scotland
• The Evangelical Alliance
• The Family Education Trust

In addition to expensive adverts, the campaign is splashing their cash on new websites, branded t-shirts, bags, banners, mobile advertising, and the production of over 200,000 campaign postcards in an attempt to buy democracy.

They say that they have now collected over 20,000 signed postcards against equal marriage – so every consultation response we can secure in favour is vital.

We need YOU to take action today

Here are three things you can do now to make a real difference:

1. Take the Friends and Family Challenge: Get THREE of your friends and family members to respond this week: http://www.equalmarriage.org.uk/consultation.php
2. Share on Facebook & Twitter – Post the online consultation link to encourage your Facebook friends and Twitter followers to respond: http://www.equalmarriage.org.uk/consultation.php
3. Donate to the campaign – help us match the campaign resources of the opponents of equal marriage.
   Online: http://www.justgiving.com/equalmarriage
   By mobile: Text LGBT77 £10 to 70070 to donate £10 or whatever you can afford.
   Every penny of your donation will go directly to the equal marriage campaign to win LGBT equality in Scotland.
   Running a national campaign is expensive, for example:

• £5 = campaign letters to 12 potential supporters
• £10 = a pack of materials for a local LGBT group
• £25 = 250 consultation response forms
• £100 = Equal Marriage briefing packs for 20 MSPs
• £4000 = the cost of a half page advert in a national newspaper!

We don’t have the money for national press adverts, but we do have our voices – please use yours today.

Yours for equality,

Tom French
Policy Coordinator,
The Equality Network

The Equality Network is a registered Scottish charity (SC037852) at 30 Bernard Street, Edinburgh, EH6 6PR.

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