As LGBT Californians, we are concerned with many issues that impact the quality of life in our great state: education, health care, the environment, employment, housing and the economy. We know our collective future – and that of the generations that will follow us – depends upon our actions today.

That’s why it’s so critical that our LGBT community turns out for the special election on Tuesday, Nov. 8. I believe we bear a broader responsibility to participate, to stand up and be counted – even when the ballot measures aren’t specifically aimed at LGBT issues. Registering to vote and voting are the keys to finally empowering our community with a full and equal seat at the civic table.

On Nov. 8, California voters will face several propositions that are of concern to our community and to our coalition partners. And the truth is, we must show up now and be counted if we expect to beat back the coming ballot measures that do directly target us. Over the next few months, we’ll be asking our friends and allies for their support as California’s LGBT community faces a constitutional amendment ballot measure that seeks to repeal existing domestic partnership protections and create a permanent ban on marriage for same-sex couples. We will need them, and now they need us.

In order for us to continue to build true coalitions, we must not be single-issue voters; we must instead respond to all of the concerns that are related to our struggle. The struggle over the right to privacy and the right to choose are issues directly related to our concerns. If the right to privacy were to become further diluted or eroded, the underpinning of our recent Supreme Court victory against sodomy laws would be washed away. The constitutional right to privacy was critical in our success in striking down the sodomy laws that, for far too long, made us criminals in too many states. We must be vigilant in opposing any threat to privacy protections.

Not only do our long-time choice allies need us, they are fighting for principles that are the foundation of many of our own protections. That’s why The Center has taken an official position on Proposition 73, and why I’m encouraging you to vote no on this measure.

The opposition tells us it’s about parental notification in the event that a minor seeks an abortion. They’ll say, “If you were a parent, wouldn’t you want to know?” I am a parent, and of course I would! But that is not the question before us. The questions is, “If a young 17-year-old woman could not talk with her family about her pregnancy, should she be forced to come before a judge in open court and explain her family dynamics and sexual situation?” We believe the answer is a resounding “No.”

Why might a young girl be unable to speak with her family and what may she not want to reveal in open court? Child welfare and family violence research gives us the chilling answer: One in every five young women and one in every 10 young men have been sexually assaulted by the time they are 18 years old. In more than 70 percent of these cases, the sexual offenders are known to the victims: boyfriends, step-fathers, fathers, uncles, co-workers, classmates, members of their churches or friends of the family.

This measure would require girls who are minors to notify their parents of their intent to terminate their pregnancy – even if a family member was responsible for the pregnancy! Clearly this doesn’t protect these young girls, but would likely cause them more harm.

This proposed measure has never really been about protecting young girls. Those who support it are the same people who want to deny these same girls access to any reproductive education that doesn’t feature an abstinence-only message. This is just another political football, and these girls and our LGBT community are being kicked around by the same team. The right-wing political extremists who support this measure are very clear, and very vocal, that this is a part of their strategy to unravel the constitutional right to privacy as well as a woman’s right to choose.

At The Center, we’ve long had a policy of supporting a woman’s right to make her own choices about her body, her health and her future – without governmental interference. Without a provable, compelling interest, we believe government should not force itself into the private lives of its citizens.

Let’s protect California minors, not leave them more vulnerable. Please turn out and vote no on 73 on Nov. 8.