I already suspected Sally Rugg was a pretty great human being and reading How Powerful We Are, her account of the campaign for same sex marriage, has reinforced that plenty. It's hugely clear, readable and interesting, with just the right balance between campaign, social movement and personal, political and social/human context.
Particularly interesting for me were the sections about the Yes campaign's strategy and its consequences - the decision that the goal was maximising the total proportion of yes votes (rather than, for example, aiming for every electorate to return a vote greater than 50% or progressing a positive narrative around LGBTIQ rights) and therefore on getting out the vote and mobilising '1s' and '2s' rather than seeking to win the votes, or change the minds, of '3s' let alone '4s'. Admirably, Rugg is very clear on the costs of this decision and the harm caused - to causes and to people - in pursuing that objective in such a focused way.
I also liked the bits on the more tactical dimensions of activism and advocacy - the importance of a clear theory of change, the competing frames used by the two opposing campaigns (children vs modern families) and the importance and difficulty of avoiding fighting the issue on your opponent's terms (however tempting to rebut misinformation, such as about Safe Schools, rates of abuse/harm to children of queer parents, transgender identity and sexuality and so much more - "facts bounce off frames"), the relentless positivity and non-threatening messaging and delivery through predominantly white, middle to upper class and heterosexual or passing speakers (another choice whose consequences in terms of exclusion of intersectional and even more marginalised experiences she is explicit about), her description of the spectrum of collaboration with the media,[*] a two by two with level of central control on one axis and level of disruptiveness on the other, the creation of a 'hero's journey' narrative in which the hero is members of the social movement being generated and not the campaigners who are mobilising and coordinating.
It's also important and compelling - though not always easy reading - in how it highlights the harm caused by the whole national 'discussion' about the worth and belonging of LGBTIQ people, including in youth and adult suicide and self-harm, as well as the internal conflict, bullying and exclusion that is surely endemic to every set of progressive movements but especially acute when the stakes were as high and public as they were over the period that Rugg's book covers.
Anyway all in all a really terrific book for a whole range of reasons. Intensely practical as well as principled, not to mention passionate and quite inspiring.
[*] Breaking the law / whistleblowing, exclusives, strong media releases, deliberately disrupting the media in a way they'll like, Streisand effect, media hoaxes, fake news.
