"Know Your Enemy" Project - dinner meeting in Queens

This meeting's agenda will be: (1) To share information about the religious right wing's activities here in New York State (including New York City) and New Jersey. (Diane has been researching this recently.) (2) To brainstorm ways we can educate NYC-area gays, Pagans, atheists, etc. about the religious right wing.

Too many New Yorkers, including gays, Pagans, atheists, etc., are ignorant about the religious right wing. Many people assume -- wrongly -- that the religious right wing is dead or dying. Hence too many people assume, for example, that it's a foregone conclusion that the New York State same-sex marriage bill will pass in the State Senate, and that we, the people, don't have to do anything to help make it pass -- or to keep it in place once it is passed. In fact, as recently as November 2008, the religious right wing had sufficient muscle and money to scare the Californian populace into voting for Proposition 8 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Proposition_8_(2008)), an anti-gay amendment to the California state constitution. Since then, the religious right wing is now focussing on New York State.

How can we make the people on our side more aware? Let's brainstorm ways to do this.

Our meeting, over dinner, will be preceded and followed by some time for informal socializing.

We welcome all who oppose the religious right wing. We especially welcome people who can inform us about issues affecting their own particular minority group or subculture.

We'll be meeting at a diner in Forest Hills, on Queens Boulevard, near the 71st and Continental Avenue subway station on the E, F, G, and R subway lines. (The diner is right next to the "70 Road and South Side Queens Blvd." exit from the subway station. To see the diner's exact name, address, and other details, please join this Meetup group and/or log in, if you have not done so already, and then reload/refresh this page.) Nearby bus lines include the Q60 and the Q64. We are also near the Forest Hills station on several Long Island Railroad Lines. (From the LIRR station, ask for directions to the subway.)

Ask a waiter for "New Yorkers Against Religion-Based Bigotry." We will probably be in the FRONT section of the diner (where the tables are). Look for a table or booth with a small pile of NYARBB leaflets and pamphlets on it, possibly enclosed in one or more Ziploc bags.