Looking Back, Looking Forward

Adam Gerhardstein is Campaign Manager of the Standing on the Side of Love Campaign.

As soon as I boarded my flight from Washington D.C. to Salt Lake City on June 22nd, 2009, I promptly fell asleep. The launch of the Standing on the Side of Love (SSL) campaign was imminent and I had done everything I could possibly do to make it a success. The banners for the convention hall and been designed and printed; t-shirts, buttons, and bookmarks awaited my arrival at the hotel; the public witness event was planned; and the essential Standing on the Side of Love Volunteer Team had been recruited and prepped. I had worked long hours preparing to saturate the Unitarian Universalist Association’s General Assembly (GA), but what I couldn’t predict was how we would be received.

Would the Unitarian Universalists at GA embrace this campaign? Would they call their legislators and pledge to stand with immigrants? Would they buy the shirts and take home the buttons to wear to church? And most importantly, would they go home, tell their congregation about SSL, and stand on the side of love in their communities?

Six months ago, I didn’t have an answer to any of those questions. Today, I can answer them all with a resounding YES!

As we enter the New Year, I can’t help but get emotional when I look back. I have so many inspiring memories, such as traveling to Maine to train ministers in media skills just a month before Maine’s disappointing marriage equality vote, talking to Rev. Matthew Crary about his community’s struggles when the Neo-Nazis came to town, watching our Facebook fans grow and engage (we just hit 10,000!), marching with over 1,000 people in Washington, D.C. under the Standing on the Side of Love banner, hearing that Lou Dobbs was leaving CNN after 1,000 SSL supporters wrote to CNN, and picking up the phone and hearing Rev. Rob Hardies bubbling with excitement that the D.C. mayor would sign the Marriage Equality bill at All Souls Church, Unitarian.

I’ll also never forget when I stepped to the front of the plenary hall at a Metro New York area leadership conference. As soon as I said, “I am Adam Gerhardstein, Campaign Manager, Standing on the Side of Love”, the entire room broke into applause. That is when I knew that we had created something that resonated with people, something that people wanted to cheer about. That felt really, really good.

As I look forward into this New Year, I see a lot to be excited about. We will celebrate the first National Standing on the Side of Love Day, where we will re-imagine Valentine’s Day. We expect to fully engage in the debate on immigration reform, which should be gathering steam in the months ahead. We will pursue new tactics and new partnerships, and do everything we can to support congregations who boldly stand on the side of love.

What gives me the most hope about SSL is that ultimately the future of this campaign is in your hands, the people who bring it down to earth on the local level. You carry the banners into the streets, preach love from your pulpits, and reach out to those who are facing exclusion, oppression, and violence. Your stories fill our blog and our news roll, and your voices reach out through our emails and Facebook page. From what I have seen thus far, I’m convinced this campaign is in very good hands.

Happy New Year!