Strictly radical, always queer

By Anna Prouty

Canvass for a Cause was founded in 2009 as a queer canvassing organization focused on marriage equality. It quickly grew into the intersectional queer safe space and radical activism community it is now. In the five years CFAC has been out on the streets, we have worked on issues from banning “Pray the Gay Away” therapy for minors in California to ensuring patients maintain safe access to medical cannabis to, most recently, helping to pass Prop 47.

Our activists are on the street every day changing hearts and minds and educating the public on issues from anti-bullying legislation to the prison-industrial complex. One in every four non-supporters who meet our activists have changed their viewpoint to the side of justice and equality. It is those face-to-face conversations where true change occurs. Without them, every new law passed is just a piece of paper.

CFAC has been a passionate voice in the community, taking activism from an intersectional approach and fighting against all injustices as a part of the larger radical struggle. Our activists are at nearly every rally fighting injustice in the San Diego area, and our strike teams have gone across the country to help nationwide struggles to end oppression. We have planned community events such as Guerilla Pride and We Are Here, and we send activists weekly to local GSAs (Gay Straight Alliance) to work with high school students on how to be activists and advocates for change.

Simply put, CFAC is a hub. It is a space where young queers can come and be accepted, respected, welcomed and supported for whoever they are and however they present. It is a space that teaches the most marginalized in society to fight for themselves and change the systems of oppression that marginalize them in the first place. From our youth outreach to our activists on the streets, CFAC empowers young people to take changing the world into their own hands.

This amazing organization that I work for, Canvass for a Cause, is on the verge of closing down due to financial issues.  We have an online fundraiser going on right now and hope you can help.  Thank you San Diego.

Anna Prouty is a writer, activist, anarchist and artist born and raised in San Diego. She recently graduated from Columbia University and will begin her Master’s at the London School of Economics in the fall.