Friends,

Even with 45 abroad, the endless drip of insanity continues – I mean, did you see that joke of a budget he put forward? Thankfully, Virginians have an opportunity to strike back against 45 on November 7th.

To do that, we need to be organized and prepared. This starts at the DPVA JJ Dinner, followed by VAYD’s JJ After Dark!

DPVA has offered to extend a special, but limited, YD rate for the dinner. If you or your members are interested, please email Jamie Nolan ([email protected]) for details.

Thank you to Susan and Becca for helping make this happen, and a huge thank you to Jamie for organizing and working directly with DPVA on this!

Fight Back (your advocacy portal)

E pluribus unum
Virginia is a large commonwealth and it can be hard to connect a scattered statewide network. Sure, we can host conventions, meetings, summits and retreats but that requires a lot of leg work, organization and travel. So – how to keep everyone connected and stand as one, especially for big events?

Enter: the statewide banner. We are creating one for the upcoming National Equality March, here are the detailed instructions:

For this march, VAYD would like to create a unique banner as an organization. The idea is to have each chapter take a 1 yard segment of meslin (approx. fifty-cents a yard) to create their own chapter's design with marker, paint, etc. These chapter specific cloths would then be mailed (or delivered) to Jimmy's house byThursday, June 8 for us to put the chapter specific pieces together to create a single VAYD banner. If your chapter would like to participate in this effort, please let us know so we can be on the lookout for your section.

If you’d like to participate, email Maggie Davis ([email protected]).

Immigration Summit
As you know, our Immigration Summit is rapidly approaching. It’s June 3rd from 10a-4p at Annandale Terrace Elementary. Check out our Facebook event page to meet our speakers. Thank you to our sponsors: Perriello for Governor, Nicole A. Williams for Maryland, Alexsis Rodgers, James Lewis & Sarah Kramer; contact [email protected] for sponsorship details.

The Battleground (your campaign portal)

MT-AL

TODAY, Montanans will head to the polls. In recent days, the race has inched closer to the “tossup” category and last night, the GOP candidates as charged with assaulting a reporter. New numbers show that more than 30 percent of Montanans have returned their absentee ballot – a massively positive sign for Democrats. Help get Rob across the finish line and hand 45 a massive defeat by hosting a mobile phonebank.

A Few Shout-Outs/Announcements

  • Congratulations to the Young Democrats of Staunton, Augusta, Waynesboro (YDSAW) on a successful Rally for Life event.
  • Congratulations to Andrew Whitley, former president of the Virginia Tech YDs, on his election as Vice Chair of the 9th Congressional District Committee. 
  • Welcome to Kashi Nikore, the newly elected president of the Washington-Lee High School Young Democrats.
  • Shout out Joshua Cole of Stafford, the young person and first African American to secure the Democratic nominations for the 28th HOD district. 

Social Media Fodder
Know someone fighting cancer? The #TrumpBudget cuts 20% of the funding to find a cure.http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/trumps-2018-budget-cuts-funding-for-cancer-mental-health-and-hiv-research/

For years, Republicans have been playing politics with our healthcare. Now their games are having real consequences on American families. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/opinion/trumpcare-health-care-bill.html?_r=0

Not only is the #TrumpBudget an attack on working families, it’s also littered with math errors. Sad! http://ti.me/2rNcHkI

Mark Your Calendar

The next VAYD Executive Board meeting will be June 17th on the sidelines of the DPVA Central Committee meeting. Details to follow.

Planning to dance the night away with us at JJ After Dark? Then you’re going to need a good breakfast! Join our friends, the LGBT+ Democrats, along with special guests, Lt. Gov. Northam & Congressman Don McEachin, from 7:30-9:30 at the Marriott. We appreciate the LGBT+ Democrats including YDs by arranging a YD rate!! RSVP here.

Join VAYD and the LGBT+ Democrats at the National March for Equality on June 11th – exciting details to follow!

Democratically yours,

James Lewis
President, VAYD
@JimmyCLewis