If you're strongly connected to the blogging infertility community, you may have heard about how a certain animal rights group (whose name I refuse to mention in my blog) started an offensive campaign, linking National Infertility Awareness Week, vasectomies, and the neutering or spaying of dogs and cats. In short, they were offering a free vasectomy "in honor" of National Infertility Awareness Week to any man who gets his animal fixed.
There are so many things that were wrong with this campaign. So many. I struggled with writing a blog myself on the topic because 1) I didn't want to bring them more media attention (which was their main goal, after all), 2) I was so angry I couldn't think straight, and 3) I didn't want to bring them more media attention. (Ya, I know I repeated that reason twice. It was a big one for me.)
So I'm not going to write any more about they-who-may-not-be-named. Instead, I want to tell you about the amazing power of the infertility blogging community.
Keiko Zoll, whose advocacy efforts I've written about before , started an online petition against the mention of National Infertility Awareness Week in the animal rights group's contest. That petition eventually garnered some 2,200 signatures in three days.
Keiko encouraged other fertility challenged bloggers to write open letters and for all the fertility challenged (and their loved ones) to write emails directly to the head of the unmentionable animal group. She provided phone numbers and encouraged people to call again and again, until they got through and voiced their opinion.
She also networked with many in the fertility world to let our objections be heard and known, including RESOLVE, who released an official press statement on the matter.
Amazingly - and it really is amazing, if you ask me, considering who the offender was - Keiko's and the fertility community's efforts worked - the offensive mentioning of National Infertility Awareness Week was removed. The fertility community won.
This is huge, my friends. Huge.
Many would say that a campaign against this group would never make a difference. (They are known for offensive campaigns - it's their specialty, you might say.) Some may say the group could care less about emails, petitions, or phone calls. Some might say the efforts were more for our own dignity, and not likely to lead to results.
And yet, the advocacy actions taken by the fertility community did get results.
You may think that your email, your signature on an online petition, or your blog doesn't make a difference. You may think you are just one little person in a world of billions. But your voice does matter. Your emails, letters, and phone calls do make a difference, especially when combined with others in a mass wave of passion.
The question right now on my mind is, if advocacy can make a difference with a group like this, what kind of difference might it make on lawmakers, who do care about your opinions? (After all, it's your vote that keeps them in office. They actually do care about what you think.)
If you're inspired by the fertility community's win against they-who-may-not-be-named, I want to encourage you to attend Advocacy Day in Washington, DC, on May 5th, 2011. If you can't be in Washington, DC, there are local ways you can get involved. You can learn more about this important day, and how to get involved, from the RESOLVE website.
You may not think your presence or your blog or your letter or your phone call matters. But it does. It really, really does.
Oh, and WAY TO GO, Keiko. I think I speak for the entire fertility community when I say we are lucky to have you. Thank you for being an inspiration to all of us. Thank you for showing us that it's possible to make a difference.
More about advocacy:
Absolutely want to second this: “If you’re inspired by the fertility community’s win against they-who-may-not-be-named, I want to encourage you to attend Advocacy Day in Washington, DC, on May 5th, 2011. If you can’t be in Washington, DC, there are local ways you can get involved. You can learn more about this important day, and how to get involved, from the RESOLVE website.”
It’s great to get an organization to change the wording in their campaign but it is a much better use of our energy to go to Washington (and if you can’t travel, there is still stuff you can do) and direct that energy towards lawmakers. That is the place where evoking change will make a huge difference in a lot of people’s lives.
Saying that “[Washington] is the place where evoking change will make a huge difference in a lot of people’s lives” completely undermines the work that people like Rachel and Keiko do on a regular basis. These women stand up and speak up for those who can’t, for whatever reason, get their own voices out there. The well thought out, well researched arguments that women like Keiko and Rachel make is absolutely invaluable. Fighting the stigma is more than just getting favorable legislation passed; it’s about educating the masses where the opportunity arises. Keiko’s letters to PETA aren’t just whiny letters of complaint, they’re solid arguments with well reasoned requests. This community is stigmatized enough and there’s no reason to stand idly by while trolls like PETA exploit our cause for the good of their own. Not everyone has the ability or the stamina to do what these women do, but those of us who don’t should stand beside them and support them, not trivialize their efforts.
Beautifully written, Rachel. Thank you for your support and for inspiring others (myself included) in our community to be change agents.
I agree with anon’s comment. Saying “it is a much better use of our energy to go to Washington (and if you can’t travel, there is still stuff you can do) and direct that energy towards lawmakers” implies that it was a waste of time/energy to get PETA to remove the IF references from their site, that the 2200+ people who signed the petition, the people who blogged, the people who talked to friends/family about it, were all wasted efforts. But they weren’t wasted efforts–change happened, and what better example to take to the lawmakers than to show that a small percentage of this community was able to get a huge national organization (one who rarely loses publicity stunt battles btw) to change.
I think everyone should be proud of the time & energy they put in!!!