Hi All. Once again it's that time of year to decide if the LPSF wants to participate in Pride on June 27-28 and if so in what way. For the last 10 years the LPSF has had a booth at Pride and done outreach with the community, mostly with the Nolan Quiz. It would not be an understatement to say that hundreds, if not thousands, have stopped by our booth in the last decade to discuss the issues with us and get a feel for what real Libertarianism is all about. A few want to argue and call us "cold" and "mean-hearted," but most are friendly and curious and leave with a better feeling and understanding of what we're all about, and of course the liberty-minded just love us and quite often I hear a heartfelt "Thank you for being here."
The booth is not cheap. Unless the costs have gone up this year (online registration is not available yet), they are $254 for the booth, $50 for the environmental fee, and $50 for the insurance, for a total of $354. We have a nice supply of literature on hand, so I don't think we need to get any additional brochures this year.
Alternative ideas for Pride are to participate in the Parade itself, have a no-permit booth set up outside the perimeters of the fair, or to walk around the fair with flyers and brochures and hand them out. I am all for walking in the parade (and I would love to do so myself, but since I'm always at the booth, that's not feasible), but I doubt we could round up enough Libertarians to march these days, so it would have to be with other liberty groups like the GGLR or more likely the Pink Pistols. Also note that these groups tend to get pushed to the back of the bus like social outcasts, so they do not get as much attention as the more politically popular groups, not to mention that no outreach comes from this activity--you just walk down the street, folks cheer or throw tomatoes, and that's the end of it. The no-permit booth idea outside the fair--I don't like this idea at all. While there is no money to come up, you get what you pay for: hassles from the police and the booth would have to be taken down after all the work of setting it up. Walking around with flyers and brochures and handing them out is another no-cost option that is better than the no-permit booth, but after years of doing outreach, my experience tells me this is mostly a waste of time (and not cheap brochures) because the general public that attends Pride is not interested in politics or philosophy at all, and most of those brochures will end up on the ground or in the trash unread. At least with the folks who have chosen to stop by our booth, take the quiz, and talk with us, there is a much greater probability that they will actually read the literature, learn something, and think about limited government in a different way than before visiting our booth.
Please consider the options and decide if you think this is a worthwhile event for the LPSF. If we do the booth, we can't do it without donations. While the booth is expensive, I still consider it the best outreach method to reach the most folks who are not liberty-leaning, not to mention support for the sparse liberty-leaning folks in the Bay Area. I pledge the first $50 for continuing to have a regular paid permit booth with insurance (like all the other groups that had to pay to be there) at Pride this June. Please help to continue to make this our biggest and most worthwhile outreach event of the year and specify how you want the money spent.
Thanks!Aubrey