by James Whitely - SGN Staff Writer

On July 19, Washington United for Marriage, the coalition working to Approve Referendum 74 and uphold Washington's bipartisan marriage law, held a grand opening ceremony for the campaign's high-visibility 'action center' on East Pike Street in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood. The center, which is serving as a major location for the campaign's 'persuasion' phone-banking, is housed in the newly expanded space of Gay City Health Project and Kaladi Brothers Coffee.

Persuasion phone-banking, simply stated, means having conversations with undecided voters about the freedom to marry in Washington.

Washington United for Marriage data shows that two-thirds of people who have had a conversation about marriage equality support it, which is why the campaign is stepping up its phone-banking efforts.

The data come from a survey conducted by independent pollster Alison Peters last year. Over the course of the poll, Peters found that simply talking about same-sex marriage with someone greatly increased their chance of supporting it. Although this may seem obvious to some, it's the numbers backing it up that make it impressive.

Peters found that 34% of voters who had never had a conversation about same-sex marriage supported it, compared to 56% of voters who had had such a conversation with a straight person. Additionally, 69% of voters who had a conversation about same-sex marriage with a Gay or Lesbian person supported the freedom to marry.

'I think that it's a really heavy statistic,' Maggie Thompson, the campaign's field director for western King County, told SGN. 'It's evidence these conversations can really swing voters.'

UFCW 21, a Washington union, has been and will continue to house most of the local phone bank volunteers in SoDo, but the action center offers a place for those on the Hill to stay on the Hill.

'For people who live and work in this area, it's difficult to get to our SoDo phone banks by 5:30,' said Thompson. 'We're hoping that [it's] really going to get volunteers coming.'

The campaign opened the action center on July 3. The idea was that an office in a centralized location on Capitol Hill, Seattle's Gayborhood, would give campaign supporters easy access to volunteer opportunities. After two weeks of phone-banking at the action center, Thompson says the campaign has made a fundamental change in its pitch. Rather than saying 'marriage equality,' the campaign has found that 'freedom to marry' seems to resonate more with undecided voters.

Washington United for Marriage is still looking for more volunteers to come into the Capitol Hill action center for persuasion phone banks.

The center is located at 517 E. Pike St. Phone banks run Monday through Thursday from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. All are encouraged to sign up or just drop in. An open house will be held this weekend during the Capitol Hill Block Party.

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