The past few months have seen mass mobilizations of immigrants and their allies in the streets of the nation and throughout the Northwest. Days of Action in March, April and May brought out hundreds of thousands of people in cities and towns like Salem, Boise, Seattle and Medford; nationally, the number is estimated to be in the millions.

Stephan Blanford, a Three-Year Grants committee member and newly-elected board member of the Social Justice Fund, began his involvement with us when he was invited to dinner by another member and personal friend. He was thrilled to find an organization, and more importantly, a community of progressive-minded activists as committed as he and his schoolteacher wife are to social justice.

The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) of 1996 that barred federal recognition of same sex marriages was the opening salvo in a battle about families and family values that reaches across lines of race, faith, class, gender identity and culture. Since 1996, more than 13 states have adopted constitutional bans against same sex marriages, including Montana and Oregon. In the 2006 general election, Idahoans will vote on a constitutional amendment that bans same sex marriages.