San Diego activists Anthony White, chair of Immigration Equality, and Nadine Jernewall, chair of Marriage Equality California’s (MECA) San Diego chapter, are hitting the highways next Monday as part of the National Marriage Equality Express. The eight-day cross-country crusade for equal partnership rights stops in 14 U.S. cities, ending in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 11, National Coming Out Day.

“People have to learn to not be afraid to be out and to speak up,” White said. “We’re not going to be given rights by people because we’re quiet and don’t cause trouble. We’re going to be given them because we stand up and demand them, and show that there is a valid reason why we should have them. And our real thing is to just put a face on it for a lot of people – to say these are people dealing with these issues.”

The duo is constantly asked if they’ve “been on their bus trip yet,” which shows community’s interest in their journey.

“I get lots of questions about the trip,” Jernewall said. “It’s great becausd it really shows that people are invested in it. I think a lot of people recognize what an important time this is and that we are only going to get equality by working really hard for it. Anthony and I have been working at fundraising and organizing for months, but there have been many other people supporting us along the way. So many folks have come to our fundraisers, made donations, volunteered their time and offered words of encouragement. They understand why it is important to educate others by sharing our stories and they look forward to us coming back to share what our caravan experience was like.”

“I think once we get on [the bus] it’s going to be incredible,” White said. “I think it’s just going to be so empowering and educational – you just feel like you’re really doing something for the cause.”

The caravan stops in Sacramento, Reno, Salt Lake City, Cheyenne, Denver, Kansas City, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Columbus and Pittsburgh before reaching Washington, D.C. There, the caravan will join thousands of other activists to protest Defense of Marriage Act legislation and other state and federal laws that discriminate against same-sex couples, and to help put a face on the issue of marriage equality.

“When everyday people see that you’re everyday people, dealing with the same issues that they’re dealing with, that’s when minds change and people start to turn around, and that’s what we’re trying to make happen,” White said.

In each city along the way, riders will participate in marriage equality rallies that they have helped locals organize in advance; all 47 riders split into smaller groups of two and three to plan the individual rallies along the route. White and Jernewall have been busy planning a marriage equality rally in Indianapolis; an eye-opening experience, they said, and one that has made us both more appreciative of California’s social and political climate.

“It’s been really interesting to interact with other communities to see what their struggles are,” Jernewall said. “For example, some communities are nervous about us advertising our events when we come through their town, because they are afraid of a backlash. Others express how their public officials will only meet with them secretly. Fortunately, here in California, we are able to hold our politicians to a higher standard.”

“It’s been quite an interesting experience, because their political world is completely different from here,” said White. “It’s heavily, heavily Republican.”

In the past couple of weeks, he added, the rally has taken shape, with a coalition of 13 local organizations serving as co-sponsors, among them the Metropolitan Community Church, transgender and student organizations, Indianapolis Pride and the local association of GLBT-owned businesses.

“All of the [planned rallies] are really different, everything from a kiss-in in Reno to a town hall meeting in Indianapolis to a big rally in some of the other cities,” White said. “They’re all different kinds of events in different cities, and some of the places have said, ‘Okay, you can come here, but don’t make too much hay.’”

Doing 14 rallies in eight days across the country has been no small feat of coordination for the riders on the Marriage Equality Express. In addition to the smaller groups coordinating the individual rallies across the country, over the last year the entire group met every two weeks for a teleconference with at least 30 of them participating at any given time.

“It’s all us doing it; it’s not a statewide organization that has paid staff… [where] you just raise $1,500 and show up. It’s very, very much run by all of the riders,” White said. “So it makes it really crazy, but really great. It’s definitely democracy at work.”

White and Jernewall needed to raise a minimum of $1,500 apiece to cover the cost of the trip, and hosted a fundraising evening in August called “Dine Out for Equality”, where participating restaurants pledged a portion of their proceeds from the designated evening to the caravan.

“It was awesome,” said White, who is the general manager of California Cuisine, one of the participating restaurants. “We raised over $3,000 [that day] with absolutely no expenses.”

White said over 100 people attended Dine Out for Equality’s kickoff party at California Cuisine, and one restaurateur reported a 30 percent increase in average business for that evening.

Another fundraiser held at Chevy’s in Mission Valley raised additional funds. Overall, the pair has exceeded their minimum goal by $2,000.

“We’ve now increased our goal to $6,000,” White said. “We’ve done very, very well.”

All told, the Marriage Equality Express has raised a combined total of $100,000.

Part of White and Jernewall’s contribution to the caravan’s rallies will be educating people about the Permanent Partners Immigration Act (PPIA), which would allow U.S. citizens in same-sex relationships to sponsor their partners in the same way that citizens in opposite-sex relationships can through marriage. There is as of yet no scheduled time the federal bill will be introduced, but the California state Legislature recently signed a resolution in support of it and has issued letters to every state Legislature calling for them to pledge support for the bill.

A documentary filmmaker from Q Television will ride along on the trip to record a six-part, six-hour documentary on the event and reporters from The Advocate and PlanetOut.com will also be on board for the entire journey. The Los Angeles GLAAD office will coordinate media and publicity for each local rally.

“I look forward to the opportunity to go out and do something with all of the passion and energy I feel for marriage and immigration equality,” Jernewall said. “I am not nervous or scared. I think apathy scares me more than adversity.”

For more information on the National Marriage Equality Express, visit www.gaylesbiantimes.com for a link to their website.