Since I’ve been writing postcards to elected officials, I thought I’d share them with those who might be interested in sending out similar messages to their elected officials. The templates on these pages are .doc files, and you can update them with your information and the information of your elected officials. You can send them as is or update the text as you’d like*. Jump to the postcards….
A few words on printing: the files attached are intended to be printed double-sided. Please note that you need to go into your print menu’s double-sided printing options and select “print on short edge (left).” Otherwise, the names and addresses won’t correspond to the names of the recipients on the cards. Or you can print the first page single-sided and write in the names and addresses as needed. Since my printer jams frequently printing cardstock double-sided, I’m working on another template to print one side, manually feed the paper in, and print the addresses. I’ll post an update on that soon.
I use Astrobrights 65 lb cardstock (which you can get at Target ), and I cut the page into quarters with a paper cutter. Or you could use a perforated postcard paper. You can buy postcard stamps through the USPS site here. (Given that the agency is under threat from the current White House administration, I’d encourage you to buy postage and send a letter if you can.) I send postcards since they don’t need to be opened and can be processed faster, plus I use brightly colored cardstock to make them stand out….
No need to acknowledge me if you use these postcards*, but I do ask that if I quote a source that you leave that source in the text (or just omit the whole thing). And if you want to pay it forward, how about buying (or requesting from your local library) a poetry collection by a living BIPOC or LGBTQIA+ poet?
Postcards for 25 February 2022: Texas puts Transgender Youth at Risk. Here’s the Human Rights Council press release I quote: “Human Rights Campaign Condemns Anti-Equality Extremist Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton for Putting the Well-Being of Transgender Youth At Risk”
Postcards for 7 November: Asking Republican elected officials to call out the falsehoods in a statement by the Chair of the Texas GOP.
Postcards for 13 & 14 October 2020: Cards for both Gov. Abbott and any other Republican elected official you may have in Texas regarding his policy to limit ballot drop-off locations to one per county, plus cards to the Republican Senate Judiciary Committee asking about Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s ability to look past her misogynistic indoctrination.
Bonus address labels for the Republican Senate Judiciary Committee members! I used Avery 5160, which are pretty standard mailing address labels.
Postcards for 28 & 29 September 2020: Four cards to Senators voicing my opposition to Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court. Also a little screaming into the void. Here are a few websites of note regarding groups opposing her nomination:
- Alliance for Justice: “Amy Coney Barrett“
- Americans United for Separation of Church and State: “Amy Coney Barrett: A Threat to Religious Freedom“
- The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights: “Oppose the Confirmation of Amy C. Barrett to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit“
- The Human Rights Campaign: “The Human Rights Campaign Opposes Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court“
Postcards for 24 & 25 September 2020: Four cards to Senators asking them what they’re planning to do regarding Trump’s unwillingness to commit to a peaceful transfer of power and what they’re doing to ensure voters have access to early voting and vote by mail (Texas specific, but might be useful for those in states facing similar situations.)
Postcards for 18 & 19 September 2020: Four cards to Senators asking them to follow the precOppositiontoACBedent their party set in 2016 regarding Supreme Court appointments. Change the text in bold, and update the highlighted text as needed. No addresses on the back of this one, sorry.
(And yes, I should have returned to this project sooner….)
Postcards for 15 June 2020: A card to a state-level legislator regarding the NAACP’s federal legislative call to action; two for senators requesting their votes in support of the HEROES Act (the wording here is definitely for the red state crowd); and one decrying the President’s support for the HHS’s recent action that removed health care and health insurance protections for LGBTQ. A few references below:
- From NPR: “Transgender Health Protections Reversed By Trump Administration“
- From NAACP’s website, referenced in the first card: “An Update from NAACP: Our Demands“
- From WNYC: “If a police officer in your community has a history of misconduct, can you find out about it? It depends where you live.“
* For the sake of clarifying this, everything else on this site is covered by copyright protection (either mine, the publications I link to, or both), so please don’t apply this paragraph to anything else I’ve written or linked to on my website. Thanks!