Candace Gingrich: Time for a Progressive Contract with America

Newt Gingrich, the mastermind (self-proclaimed) behind the Republican takeover of Congress and the Contract with America has an awesome younger sister. Candace Gingrich is the senior youth outreach coordinator for the Human Rights Campaign. She has been an outspoken advocate for the queer community since her memoir "The Accidental Activist" hit bookshelves in 1993.

She was at UCSB for our Equality Rally on October 30 and she spoke about the importance of the youth movement. She told us how important it was to vote down Proposition 8, and also how important it was to get out and educate our peers. I know that the message got through, because in California, young people overwhelmingly rejected Prop 8 and Santa Barbara County (thanks to UCSB) also rejected Prop 8. But as she points out, there is so much more to the progressive movement--we elected Barack Obama, and now we must push the rest of the nation to catch up with what youth already know. When the rest of the nation catches up, we'll be waiting, in our colleges and universities that serve as our own little utopias, complete with equal protections clauses, carbon neutral campuses, and bike paths galore.

If you want to meet Candace, she will be at UCSB again for the Western Regional Conference which will bring together LGBT youth and allies from across the west coast of the United States.