Okay, here's the plan for getting same-sex marriage legalized. As anyone whom this affects knows, Jack Layton is the new leader of the NDP, making for an NDP that, on paper at least, is much more appealing to the urban left than the party's previous incarnations of this party have been. We also know that the federal Liberals are going to win the next election as a lame duck, and if we are very lucky we will have an NDP opposition but the opposition is really up for grabs. However, this new, vital, urban NDP could pull voters away from the Liberals by being more proactive on the most important left-wing issues of the day, namely the legalization of same-sex marriage.

So here's how to use this to our advantage:

1. Write to your Liberal MP stating that you will not vote Liberal until same-sex marriage is legalized. If you don't have a Liberal MP, write to Mr. Chr�tien and to all the Liberal leadership candidates you can think of.



2. Include additional helpful information. For example:
   
   • If you have voted Liberal in the past, be sure to mention that. If you frequently or always vote Liberal, be sure to make this clear.
   
   
   • If you have made donations to the Liberal party, be sure to mention this (and mention that you will no longer be donating time or money until the legislation is passed).
   
   
   • If you are a member of a demographic group that might be more likely to move towards the right, be sure to mention this because it would be very helpful to give the impression that even the rightmost Liberal voters want same-sex marriage legalized.
   
   
   • If you are a member of a demographic group that is more likely to skew left, don't mention your demographic. Subtly giving the impression that you might be further right is helpful. For example, when writing my letter I didn't mention my demos at all, but I did channel an grumpy British matron writing a letter of complaint, so perhaps they might read me as middle-aged.
   
   
   • If you are queer, it would be more effective not to mention your queerness. Why? Because those who have been blocking this legislation obviously don't care about their queer consitutents, so it is likely that they would just dismiss you as another queer. Also, since these people are more closed-minded, they are more likely to assume that someone is straight unless otherwise specified, so not mentioning sexual orientation would give the impression of more straights wanting same-sex marriage, which legislators would be more likely to pay attention to.



3. Inform anyone who might be interested of this plan.

Please, no form letters for people to fill in the blanks of. We want intelligent letters, written in the voters' own words. If enough of these get sent, we may have legal same-sex marriage by the next election.