Change.org

A petition started by the creator of photoblog Humans of New York (HONY), Brandon Stanton, is one of the fastest growing petitions in the history of Change.org.

Brandon has told thousands of compelling stories to his millions of followers. So when he posted on Sunday that he was about to share “perhaps the most important story” he’s ever told, people listened.

Brandon shared photos and stories about Aya, an Iraqi refugee living in Turkey, whose application for asylum was rejected by the United States. His posts invite users to support her appeal to come to America by signing his petition.

His series, which culminated today in a final and eleventh post about Aya, has moved more than 980,000 people to lend their voice to her appeal to President Obama (and still growing). On average, the petition is gaining over 14,000 signatures per hour, and peaked at approximately 100,000 signatures in an hour.

Clearly, people are touched by Aya’s story in the same way that Brandon was when he met Aya on a recent trip to the Middle East. While there, he visited with refugee families in Jordan and Turkey to document their stories for Humans of New York.

“One day Aya, you will be the voice of refugees” Aya was nine-years-old when she and her family fled Iraq for Syria after war broke out. As Aya explained, there was so much screaming and fighting in Iraq, it seemed like “there was blood in the sky.”  

In Syria, Aya’s life was starting to feel normal again--she enrolled in school, and did so well her teachers told her, “One day Aya, you will be the voice of refugees.” But then war came to Syria, her school was threatened and Aya saw people killing each other on the street. So her family fled war once again, this time to Turkey.

But life in Turkey has not been easy for Aya and her family. Aya has been hit by a car, her sister’s teeth were knocked out in school, and her father has disappeared. In the streets, people shout at Aya and her family to leave.

“Being a refugee is really hard. They blame us for everything. They blame us for no jobs. For crowded streets. For crime. They say that we are the reason for everything bad,”Aya told Brandon.  

In the hopes for a better life, Aya and her family applied for resettlement in the United States. After two interviews, and months of waiting, Aya’s prayers had been answered: her family had been accepted.

She explains when her family found out, “It was like a wedding. We turned on the music. We started dancing and crying and kissing each other. A new life! The United States! We couldn’t believe it!”

But then two weeks later, Aya received a letter say that there had been a mistake and her family had been rejected, with no explanation. “All of my dreaming ended on the day this letter arrived. I became a person without hope,” said Aya. “It was like a nightmare.”

Since her father disappeared, Aya’s family depends on her salary from her work as an interpreter. Without it, her family could not survive as her mother’s physical disabilities and severe panic attacks prevent her from working. It’s a lot to shoulder for a 20-year-old.

“I can’t handle all of this by myself … I’m a warrior and I’m strong and I’ve fought so much, but even warriors get tired,” she told Brandon.

“I’ve been having crazy thoughts lately…I feel very scared. I never wanted to be the traditional Arabic girl who marries her cousin and spends all day in the house. I’ve worked so hard to escape it all…but if things don’t change for me, I think I’ll have to go back to Iraq.”

Sadly, Aya’s story is a common one among refugees. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, there are more than 4.3 million registered Syrian refugees. As of now, the United States has pledged to take 10,000 refugees.

If you feel moved by Aya’s story, lend your voice to her appeal here. Or, if you have your own refugee story:

Star Wars fans are excited for the The Force Awakens like little kids are excited for Christmas morning. Seems fitting, then that the film’s release day should be its own holiday, right?

Frank Martinez thinks so and he is asking President Obama to declare Friday, December 18 a national holiday so all Americans can go see the movie. “There are more pressing issues in the US, but this is a day that will bridge people across America,” he wrote.

With only days to go before The Force Awakens hits theaters it seems unlikely that we’ll be getting that holiday. So, instead, we’ll celebrate the release of the latest Star Wars film by taking a look how people show their fandom and excitement on Change.org.

Nearly 300 Star Wars petitions have been started on Change.org between 2011 and this week. Almost 58% of those petitions were started in the last year, demonstrating how anticipation around the new film was also building on Change.org. Just to emphasize that point, 80 petitions were started about Star Wars in the last three months.

While many of those petitions came from the U.S. -- 44% to be exact -- people have started petitions about Star Wars in 35 other countries. That’s right, Star Wars fans are everywhere.

"The size of the fanhood is so large that I wouldn't say there are demographics with no fans," Graham Gee, general manager for home entertainment at Nielsen, told Ad Age in a recent article about Star Wars fans.

I’m sure you’re wondering, what people want to change about Star Wars and the Star Wars universe? When you read through the list of petitions, a few of trends breakthrough right away:

1. Jar-Jar Binks is a very divisive character. Of any character in the Star Wars universe, it’s Jar-Jar Binks that is the focus of more petitions than any others. On one side, you have people who recognize the character’s “complexity and depth” and want whole movies about Jar-Jar. On the other side you have a lot of people starting petitions to kill off Jar-Jar.

2. People are really into Star Wars video games. There are a lot of people petitioning EA about the Star Wars video games they make. Some ask for new features or to re-release older games. This petition asks EA to finish production on a new game, Star Wars 1313, which was first demoed in 2012 and may be released (in some form) soon.

3. People want The Clone Wars back on the air. The animated TV show was cancelled in the middle of its sixth season in 2014 following Disney’s purchase of Lucas Film. Unaired episodes were later released on Netflix and and four incomplete episodes were released recently, but fans aren’t satisfied with how the show wrapped up. Many have started petitions like this one -- “Bring Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season  7 & 8!”

4. People really want to show Star Wars love on social media. There are petitions to Facebook, Skype, and WhatsApp, among others to specially themed stickers, emojis, and emoticons for the movies launch. This petition asked for Facebook stickers, but hopefully the petitioner will be satisfied with the ability to add a lightsaber to her profile pic, a la the movie poster. 

The levels of success in petitioning Disney and EA to change things about Star Wars is fairly low, but they do happen.

One of the most touching Star Wars petitions that won a month ago asked Disney and J.J. Abrams to allow a fan named Daniel Fleetwood to see The Force Awakens before its release.

Fleetwood, a fan of the franchise since the age of eight, was diagnosed two years ago with a rare connective tissue cancer and feared he would not live until Decemeber 18. With the support of Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and John Boyega -- and lots of other Star Wars fans -- Fleetwood was given an early screening before he passed away in early November.

Come back after you see The Force Awakens and let us know what you think of the movie. Want to see something change in the next film?

Fans have been waiting 10 years for a new Star Wars movie. So, understandably, The Force Awakens is causing a lot of excitement. Radio, TV, publication, social media all seem to be jumping on the Star Wars bandwagon.

So, of course, we figured we should join in all the hoopla too. We’ve already shared how people use Change.org to show their Star Wars fandom, but we thought you deserved one more Star Wars-related distraction today.

We’ve picked out 11 of the best petitions related to either The Force Awakens or the franchise in general. Take a look, sign a few if you like or...

11 Awesome Star Wars Petitions

1. Make Snoop Dogg a Jedi While this petition may be just a bit of fun, more than 2,300 people have signed the ask for the rapper to appear in The Force Awakens and any future Star Wars films.

2. America needs a Star Wars holiday A December 18 holiday may be out, but what about a national Star Wars holiday that we can celebrate every year -- May 4. Aaron Clubb is asking Congress to make it an official holiday because Star Wars is “an integral part of American culture.”

3. Release The Force Awakens everywhere on December 18th According to the petition starter, Greece is the only country besides China where the movie won’t be released on December 18th. Worried about the movie being spoiled, they are asking for the same release date as every other country.

4. Don’t forget about the troops This petition asks Disney to arrange special screenings of The Force Awakens for troops serving in the Middle East, who otherwise wouldn’t get to see the film until they return from deployment.

5. Or the Star Wars fans in Antarctica As most scientists in Antarctica are there from October to February, Sanjis Pride is asking Bob Iger, J.J. Abrams, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Antarctic Program to ensure that the scientists like him can see a special screening of The Force Awakens at McMurdo Station, the largest and most populated Antarctic research station.

6. Don’t release The Force Awakens until America solves its gun violence issue Sam Gould, like many Americans, is frustrated and saddened by the number of mass shootings in America. Inspired by a tweet from Rolling Stone reporter David Ehrlich, he’s asking J.J. Abrams and Disney to hold off releasing the film until Congress enacts real gun control measures. He thinks that if Star Wars fans were denied The Force Awakens,  they would put some real pressure on Washington. It’s nothing if not creative.

7. Kellogg bring back the lightsaber spoon On a lighter note (ha ha), Josh Allen is asking Kellogg to started producing lightsaber spoons again. Why? “Because everyone loves Star Wars and it’s very fun to eat cereal with.”

8. Make more Star Wars themed clothes for women Women like Star Wars too and some feel like they don’t have enough options when it comes to their Star Wars apparel. Amanda Doppler is one of those women. She was disappointed when Under Armour released Star Wars™ Under Armour® Alter Ego - The Imperial Collection and there was no women’s line. She’s asking the company to rectify that.

9. Bring Star Wars to Netflix While the Clone Wars shows are on Netflix, none of the movies are. Aashish Joshi wants to see all six films available for a whole new generation to view on the streaming service.

10. Make opening night child-free According to the petition starter, 40% of tickets sold for late night screenings of The Force Awakens were child tickets. He would like to see movie theater chains provide one adult-only screening on opening night.

11. Please! No spoilers Lorenzo Rozelnox from Rome is very worried that someone will spoil The Force Awakens before he sees it. He’s asking us all to take an oath, to be a “wise and honorable Jedi” and not spoil it for those who haven’t seen it.

Come back after you see The Force Awakens and let us know what you think. Want to see something change in the next film?

At any given moment, people from all over the world are using the tools on Change.org to create change, both big and small, and to build support around a variety of issues.

Today, we are excited to announce a partnership with Internet Monitor, a project based at Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society. Through this partnership, Change.org will add real-time data visualizations of social change to the Internet Monitor dashboard, a tool that aims to improve information in order to shape the future of the Internet by identifying trends in Internet health and activity through data analysis and visualization.

Here at Change.org, our product and data science teams monitor activity on the platform around the clock to identify when, where, and how people are taking action to create change. More than 125 million users worldwide are using the Change.org platform to start roughly 1,000 petitions each week on a wide range of issues.

Some other interesting insights:

More than 47,000,000 Change.org users have participated in a victory on our site

Change.org users have won over 15,000 campaigns on our site

Petitions on Change.org are signed on average over 1 million times daily

The new Change.org widget in the Internet Monitor dashboard displays a live feed of petition signatures from our impact map, showing in real time where users are taking action to create social change.

This impact map widget is part of a growing collection of data visualization widgets from a broad range of partners, including Akamai, Global Voices, the International Telecommunication Union, Kaspersky Labs, among others that show information about Internet access and infrastructure, online content controls, and digital activity. Users can explore, create, customize, and share collections of these visualizations on the Internet Monitor dashboard.

Having debuted this past September at the World Economic Forum's Future of the Internet Initiative, the Internet Monitor dashboard aims to foster an open, interoperable, and affordable Internet that serves the global public interest.

Read more about the Internet Monitor dashboard project in this article from Beta Boston.

About Internet Monitor

Internet Monitor is a research project based at Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet & Society. Internet Monitor's aim is to evaluate, describe, and summarize the means, mechanisms, and extent of Internet content controls and Internet activity around the world. The project helps researchers, advocates, policymakers, and user communities understand trends in Internet health and activity through research, analysis, and data visualization. More information can be found at https://thenetmonitor.org.

Yesterday marked the one year anniversary of Tamir Rice’s tragic passing.

It also marked one year of organizing by Tamir’s cousin, Latonya Goldsby, who has been working tirelessly to involve the local community, and people nationwide, in her fight for justice for Tamir.

Surrounded by family and supporters outside the Justice Center in Cleveland, Ohio, Latonya delivered over 200,000 signatures calling for the removal of the prosecutor from Tamir’s case. The demands stem from concerns that Prosecutor McGinty does not have an unbiased view in the case.

Petition Delivery Outside the Justice Center, Latonya thanked the crowd and spoke about her fight for justice for Tamir. “Eight months after my cousin was murdered, we turned in a petition with sixty-three thousand signatures asking for McGinty to issue an arrest of the officers that killed Tamir Rice. Today, I am here to turn in a petition with two hundred thousand signatures asking him to step down.”

Latonya also made her mission clear, saying, “I refuse to not fight for my cousin. McGinty needs to take responsibility [for] his actions, just as well as those officers who killed Tamir Rice. Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback need to be arrested for the murder of Tamir Rice.”

Latonya introduced fellow Ohio resident, Connie Garber, whose son was also killed by police. On November 21st, a grand jury announced that it would not return any indictments against the sheriff deputies who shot Connie’s son, Brian Garber, fourteen times in ninety seconds, resulting in his death. Like Tamir, Brian was unarmed.

Natalie Green, a Change.org staff member, who attended the delivery, said it was “powerful to see Latonya and Connie standing together, talking about their loss.” Natalie also explained that during the delivery “most people stayed outside and started chanting ‘Justice for Tamir,’” and that there was a lot of “positive energy outside.”

After she spoke, Latonya and local community leaders went to deliver the 200,000 signatures to Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty. The signatures came from petitions calling for justice for Tamir Rice: one started by Latonya on Change.org, and others launched by advocacy organizations ColorofChange.org and Showing Up for Racial Justice.

When they arrived at McGinty’s office, they were told he was not in, and Latonya and her supporters were met instead by Joseph F. Frolik, the Director of Communications & Public Policy from the Justice Center, who did not have many answers for them. Latonya then left the petitions at the Justice Center. Despite this, Latonya and her supporters are encouraged by the outpouring of support at the event.

Timeline of Tamir Rice’s Case On November 22nd, 2014, 12-year-old Tamir Rice was shot by Officer Timothy Loehmann while playing with a toy airsoft gun at the Cudell Recreation Center. He died the next day. Since then, Tamir’s family has been demanding answers and calling for charges to be filed against both officers.

Two days after the shooting, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty announced that he would not charge Officer Loehmann, and would instead allow a grand jury to make that decision.

On November 26th, 2014, due to mounting public pressure, the police released a surveillance video  that captured Tamir’s shooting. The video shows Officer Loehmann shooting and killing Tamir within 1.5 seconds of arriving at the Cudell Recreation Center.  

In January, the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office took over the investigation into Tamir’s shooting from the Cleveland Police Department. Two months later, Latonya started a petition on Change.org calling for charges to be brought against Officers Loehmann and Garmback. But it would be a while before the public would hear anything from the sheriff's office.

Seven months after Tamir was killed, on June 3rd, 2015, the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Office completed its investigation and turned the case over to McGinty’s office without a recommendation to bring charges against the officers. Undeterred, in July, Latonya delivered more than 60,000 signatures to McGinty’s office demanding that charges be filed against both officers.

The next big development in Tamir’s case came in mid-October, when Prosecutor McGinty released two reports by experts who reviewed the case. In both reports, Officer Loehmann’s actions were found to be “reasonable,” given the circumstances.  

Subodh Chandra, an attorney for the Rice family, said the experts were selected to defend Officer Loehmann, and that requesting, and then publishing the expert reports was “an unprecedented thing for a prosecutor to do on behalf of someone potentially facing a murder charge.”

Following the release of these reports, Latonya started another petition asking Prosecutor McGinty to step down, and for a special prosecutor to take over the case. So far, McGinty has refused to do this.

Moving Forward Tamir’s case is being reviewed by a grand jury, which will decide whether to press charges against Officer Loehmann. But for many in the community, a year has been too long to wait for justice.

Abigail, Joseph and Katlyn Jennings

Joseph Jennings was pissed. A few weeks ago, the US Preventative Task Force increased the age that they recommend women start mammograms for breast cancer screening from 40 to 50 years old.

“I think they are misguided. It is a gross injustice to everyone. To act like the younger women don’t get cancer is mind blowing,” said Joseph.

The recommendation is exactly what he’s been fighting against for months. In November 2014, Joseph’s wife Kristen died from breast cancer leaving behind two daughters. Kristen was 38 years old. Joseph’s petition asks to make breast cancer screenings covered by insurance for women under the age of 40.

Yet, despite the recommendation by the US Preventative Task Force, Joseph’s petition may be on the verge of winning. Oklahoma State Representative Mike Ritze, a practicing physician, has agreed to prepare and present a bill to the Oklahoma legislature that would make breast cancer screenings covered by insurance to more women in Oklahoma.

This bill is the culmination of many months of media interviews, meetings with legislators, crowdfunding for radio ads, working with a Facebook group of supporters, and building promotional partnerships with organizations.

Even as his campaign is still pursuing victory, Joseph is passing his experience on to others as a Change.org coach.

The Change.org coach program pairs new petitions starters with some of the most passionate, effective Change.org users. Coaches will spend about an hour a week helping others create a compelling petition, promote it, and win it.

“The hard work is getting people to understand your story,” said Joseph. “Getting them to understand it and not just look the other way. We got out there doing foot stomping and talking to everyone we could. I even set up profiles on dating sites to promote the petition.”

While some people would be overwhelmed by anger, Joseph has left the anger behind and maintains his passion. Now he’s hoping to pass that passion on to others who are trying to make change as a coach.

Two weeks ago, outdoor store REI announced that it would close on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, and that it would pay its employees to do exactly what REI advertises -- get outside and explore. H&M, GameStop, and Costco also have announced that they plan to close on Thanksgiving.

But when it comes to big retailers, they are in the minority. Many big box stores -- including Target, JCPenney, Macy’s, and Best Buy, among others -- plan to open their doors on Thanksgiving.

With many stores allowing Black Friday to bleed into what some are now calling Gray Thursday, you might think there’s a huge consumer demand for shopping on Thanksgiving Day. You would be wrong.

In fact, only 12% of shoppers plan to do any shopping this Thanksgiving Day compared to 41% of shoppers who plan to find deals in stores on Black Friday, according to a recent study by the International Council of Shopping Centers. These findings fall in line with a recent survey by Change.org.

We asked more than 12,000 Change.org users  who have signed petitions related to Thanksgiving if they will shop on Thanksgiving Day, and 82% of respondents said they will spend Thanksgiving Day with their families and not shop.

When asked what they thought businesses should do to support their employees during the upcoming holiday season, 65% of respondents said businesses should close on Thanksgiving.  

When it came to the respondents’ biggest concern about stores’ business practices during the holidays, 47% said that their biggest concern is employees not having a choice whether to work on a holiday. Forty percent said their biggest concern is stores being open on holidays like Thanksgiving.

Trending toward Gray Thursday

In 2011, a retailer being open on Thanksgiving was something of a novelty. But over the years, more stores started to open on Thanksgiving, and now being closed on the holiday is a novelty.

In our own research, we found that as the number of big box stores opening on Thanksgiving Day has increased, so has the number of petitions started to “Save Thanksgiving.”

We also found that 76% of related petition signatures call for Target -- along with other retailers, in some cases -- to close on the Thanksgiving.

It’s interesting to note that the signature spike seen in 2012 around those petitions correlates with the first year that Target opened its doors on Thanksgiving Day at 9PM. And yet, after five years of petitions to save Thanksgiving, this is the first year that Target and Macy’s have not opened earlier than previous years.

So far this year, we have again seen many petitions asking big box stores, both locally and nationally, to close on Thanksgiving Day. Here are three petitions to #SaveThanksgiving that are trending right now:

Three Petitions Hoping to Save Thanksgiving

1.     Tell JCPenney to Close for Thanksgiving

When Bill Nichols found out that his wife, an employee at JCPenney, would have to work on Thanksgiving Day, he started a petition asking the store to close for the holiday. Bill writes, “Last year and now again this year the executives of JCPenney have decided that being open on Thanksgiving day is more important than the family lives of their thousands of employees.”

2. Don’t Open for Business on Thanksgiving Day

Jerry Palacios, a Macy’s employee, started a petition on Change.org after years of working earlier and earlier on Thanksgiving Day. Jerry explains, “Macy's needs to understand that the families of its employees matter more than the bottom line and not open its stores on Thanksgiving Day.”

3. Target: Don’t Open on Thanksgiving

Ryan Zeilman loves working at Target, but since he started working there over nine years ago, Thanksgiving Day has become part of the regular schedule. So Ryan started a petition asking Target to close on Thanksgiving, saying, “Thanksgiving is one of the few holidays that celebrates family and community, no matter your faith or cultural background. We need leaders like Target to push back against the shopping frenzy, and help keep the Thanksgiving tradition alive.”

Stephen Colbert is fighting one petition with another after Guinness announced this last week that it will change its 256 year old recipe so that it will be vegan friendly.

What, you may ask, is not vegan in your Guinness? Fish bladder. That’s right, Guinness uses isinglass -- a collagen that comes from dried fish swim bladders -- to filter its beer and, although disgusted by it, Colbert wants it to stay that way.

In his typical tongue-in-cheek manner, Colbert declared during his Thursday broadcast of The Late Show that he would not let “vegans walk all over us with their sustainably sourced sandals.”

So he started a petition demanding that Guinness keep the fish bladders, which has already been signed by more than 14,000 people since it was launched four days ago on The Late Show.

Want to make sure that fish bladders are still used to make your Guinness? Show your support here.

That’s nearly 600% more signatures than a petition asking Guinness to use one of the many isinglass alternatives that is being cited  -- by Colbert and Fox News, among others -- as one of the reasons Guinness decided to go vegan in the first place.

For years, vegans in Ireland complained to the company, wrote letters, and signed petitions like this one (which has nearly 2,000 signatures) asking for beer that they could drink, according to the New York Times. Guinness’ finally decided to embrace these vegan customers by investing in a state-of-the-art filtration system that will make its beer bladder-free by 2016.

Disagree with Colbert and want the fish bladders out of your Guinness? Show your support here.

The fast growth of signatures on Colbert’s petition is not surprising to those that follow the comedian. He is skilled at mobilizing his fans in pursuit of a goal.

Remember the time when he challenged his audience to help him unseat Kanye West and make “A Colbert Christmas” #1 on iTunes, with Operation Humble Kanye? Or what about this summer when he asked his fans to flood the Prime Minister of Norway’s Twitter feed, asking her to pledge more money toward girls’ education?

He achieved both goals, thanks to the extreme popularity and loyalty he engenders from his fans.

It’s too soon to say whether Colbert will be able to mobilize his fans to reach this goal, but Guinness is certainly embracing the attention. It tweeted a mock up of a limited edition version of just what Colbert is petitioning for: Guinness with extra bladder.

It’s smart of Guinness to lean in to the petition. Brands often see a spike in engagement after being praised or, more likely, mocked by Colbert. When he shamelessly plugged Sabra on his first taping of The Late Show, the brand saw 311% more engagement on social media than it had the day prior, according to Ad Age.

Pictured from left: Brianna Cayo-Cotter, Managing Director of Partnerships at Change.org; and Michael Crawford, Director of Digital and Creative Strategy at Freedom to Marry. Photo: Matthew Bajko, Bay Area Reporter

Behind every major social movement, there is an army of fighters working to build momentum, gain supporters, and create lasting change.

This was the case for Michael Crawford and Roberta Kaplan, two important figures in LGBT history who stood behind the fight for marriage equality and same-sex couples’ “freedom to marry” in the United States.

Crawford, who is the director of digital and creative strategy for LGBT advocacy organization Freedom To Marry, visited Change.org’s headquarters in San Francisco to talk about his organization’s innovative use of digital media to mobilize the public in support of same-sex marriage, which led to the Supreme Court recognizing marriage equality in all 50 states.

Kaplan, a renowned attorney and author of the new book "Then Comes Marriage," sat down with Change.org at our New York office to share her experiences in arguing one of the biggest civil rights cases before the U.S. Supreme Court in the past 50 years -- United States v. Windsor -- and ultimately helping defeat the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a law that banned the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages.

Pictured from left: Michael Jones, Deputy Managing Director of North America, Change.org; Andy Veluswami, Director of Analytics, Change.org; Roberta Kaplan, author and attorney; and Jen Dulski, President and COO, Change.org

The two shared anecdotes of their unique experiences leading the fight for LGBT rights -- Crawford, as a digital strategist working to drum up public support for marriage equality, and Kaplan, as a litigator fighting to set legal precedence for same-sex rights across the United States.

At his talk in San Francisco, Crawford emphasized the importance of personal and authentic storytelling in growing support for the freedom to marry as a ballot issue nationwide, . Narratives of love, commitment, and family among gay couples shared digitally were instrumental in shedding light on LGBT issues in the eyes of “persuadable straight voters,” Crawford said. Eventually, his work at Freedom to Marry resulted in the Supreme Court ruling discrimination against same-sex marriages as unconstitutional.

Speaking to an audience in New York, Kaplan discussed the legal road traveled to help defeat the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) -- first in lower-level federal courts and then ultimately at the U.S. Supreme Court. She gave a thorough overview of Edie Windsor -- the plaintiff behind the overturn of DOMA -- and how Windsor’s marriage to her late partner Thea Spyer became a legend that would change civil rights history. Kaplan also talked about what it was like to walk into the U.S Supreme Court chambers and argue a case that will go down in history books.

Each day, people visit Change.org to talk about and show support for issues related to LGBT rights and equality. Here’s a quick look at the volume of conversations taking place on Change.org about LGBT rights:

Over 20 million people have come to Change.org unite over petitions about LGBT rights

More than 16,000 petitions have been started about LGBT issues

Over 130 petitions alone were started to overturn the Supreme Court decision that outlawed same-sex marriage.

Interested in taking action to help push forward LGBT rights on Change.org now?

By Colin Mutchler, CEO of Louder

Louder launched nearly five years ago with an audacious vision: to build a world in which regular citizens have the power to choose which voices and stories are heard.

Today, I am thrilled to announce that our team is joining Change.org - fellow social good business and certified B Corporation.

We’re excited to join a global platform of more than 120 million users creating change worldwide, and work to fundamentally transform the ways in which regular people can promote the issues they care about most.

We are witnessing a unique moment in the evolution of media and civic participation.

Commercialized culture defined the second half of 20th century America, with corporate and political brand advertising dominating mainstream television. In the social media age, however, authentic sharing and word of mouth carry more weight than interruptive banner ads and TV commercials.

We grew to love Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube because they represented a refreshing alternative to commercialized culture. Social media has given us the power to collectively decide what is valued and promoted among our communities with clicks, likes, and shares.

Like AM radio, FM radio, broadcast television, and other media before it, social media and the internet are now struggling to realize their full democratizing potential as their large scale monetization efforts mature. We need to maintain a way for authentic peer networks to influence which ideas spread, while also providing a way for platforms we love to actually make money.

Crowd-Promoted: a new way for civic media

Decentralized networks have already driven attention and funding to create awareness and demand change. So what if we applied this same theory to the medium of advertising?

Change.org’s promoted petition product allows users to chip-in so petitions are shown to other potential supporters. These petitions attract signatures from regular citizens, and then they attract grassroots, bottom-up funding from super supporters who believe these stories and ideas deserve to reach audiences beyond their usual friends and networks. And this is why I am so excited to be joining Change.org at this particular moment in the evolution of the internet and our democracy.

Change.org is uniquely positioned to continue testing and growing new business models that serve citizens directly in their efforts to create change.  

In 1994, a high school history teacher from St. Louis named Rodney Wilson suggested that students needed a month to study LGBT history, like they studied African American history in February and women’s history in March. Within a year, LGBT History month was being celebrated across the country in October.

Twenty-two years later, we are still celebrating LGBT history month every October by learning the history of the community and honoring those people who have made strides for LGBT rights.

One way that people are fighting for LGBT rights is with petitions.

Karen Andresen, for example, petitioned the Boy Scouts of America after her son was denied his Eagle Scout award because he was openly gay. With the support of nearly 480,000 people, she helped overturn the organization’s ban on gay scouts.

Start your own petition around an LGBT issue.

Jacob Rudolph, a gay teen from New Jersey, successfully petitioned Governor Chris Christie to support a bill that would protect young people from dangerous anti-gay conversion therapy.

Jessica Gerson petitioned on behalf of her friend Esther Garatie, a Marine veteran wounded in service, who was harassed by a nurse at the Dallas VA Medical Center because she’s gay. The petition incited an investigation by the VA and ultimately led to the nurse’s retirement.

After Jewlyes Gutierrez, a 16-year-old transgender teen, defended herself against bullies and was the only student charged with battery, her sister successfully petitioned to have the charges dropped.

These are just a few examples of people who have made strides for LGBT rights in the past few years. Many more are still working to make change around the world.

Are you one of them? Promote LGBT rights by starting your own petition or sign one of the petitions, below.

5 LGBT Petitions Trying to Make History Right Now

1. President Obama: Create a National Park for Stonewall

The National Parks Conservation Association wants to see the Stonewall Inn in New York City dedicated as a national park for its role in the Gay Rights movement, much like Seneca Falls and Selma have been dedicated as national parks for their roles in the suffrage and civil right movements.

2. General Mills: Put Greg Louganis on the Wheaties box!

Greg Louganis won two gold medals at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and was a diving superstar. But, at the time, General Mills said that Louganis did not meet their "wholesome demographics" to be put on a Wheaties box. Now, one woman is asking that the cereal company right that wrong, and put Louganis on a Wheaties box.

3. British government: Pardon all of the estimated 49,000 men who were convicted under the British "gross indecency" law

More than 49,000 men -- including Alan Turing, pioneering computer scientist and cryptanalyst, who’s story was depicted in The Imitation Game -- were convicted under a UK “gross indecency” law for engaging in consensual same-sex relationships. The law was repealed in 2003 and now people are asking the British government to pardon those men who were wrongfully imprisoned or endured harmful punishments like Turing, who was pardoned in 2013.

4. Urge Pope Francis to Stop Firing LGBT Church Workers, Meet Margie Winters, LGBT Catholics

Margie Winters, the former Director of Religious Education at Waldron Mercy Academy, was fired over the summer for her same sex marriage to her partner, Andrea. Now they’re asking Pope Francis to put an end to firing of LGBT church workers and to extend participation rights to LGBT persons, regardless of their marital status.

5. His Holiness Pope Francis: Condemn homophobic violence perpetuated in the name of Christ, in Uganda and the world.

Up until recently in Uganda, a gay person could receive the death penalty for being gay. International pressure changed that, but gay people can still be imprisoned for life for being who they are. Now, people are asking the Pope to condemn this kind of homophobic violence in Uganda and other countries as against the teachings of the church.

We see the power of petitions every day: over 120 million people are changing big and small things all over the world with petitions on Change.org. One inspiring person or organization can create big change with one petition.

But what if the change people want to achieve is too much for one petition?

In the past, Change.org petitions have been used to create grassroots movements: millions of people come together from different communities to tackle a complex issue across many petitions. For example, the long-standing ban on LGBTQ individuals serving as boy scout leaders was recently overturned after hundreds of petitions were started all over the country. And more recently, millions of people from around the world have joined together on Change.org to support solutions to help Syrians who are taking refuge in other countries.

Now, you can join Malala in a new global movement on Change.org

Malala Yousafzai, education activist and the youngest-ever Nobel Prize winner, is determined to solve a complex global issue. She wants all girls, in every country, to have free access to 12 years of education. Malala is aiming to help more than 60 million girls around the world who want a full education but are currently unable to attend school or are forced to drop out early.

Malala started the movement by asking the Global Partnership for Education to fund 12 years of education for girls around the world, and over 1 million people have supported her petition. However, Malala knows one petition won’t be enough. She’s asking you to join her movement for change by starting your own petition and supporting others’ petitions calling for more education rights and learning opportunities for girls.

See Malala’s movement

Add your voice to Malala’s movement now. You can start a petition on topics like access to education for girls, security and safety measures in schools, or even on the cost of tuition. 

Start a petition to support girls’ education

A growing number of the world’s most influential organizations and individuals are responding directly to petitions on Change.org and helping people create change. After engaging in a conversation with petition supporters, GAP agreed to stop selling fur at its Piperlime stores, Senators Mitch McConnell, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Paul Ryan helped pass the ABLE Act, and Uber implemented new driver background safety checks in India. Now, we’re making it even easier for decision makers to monitor and respond to petitions with a new decision maker dashboard.

The dashboard enables decision makers to:

View all of the petitions directed to or mentioning them in one place

Quickly sort petitions by recency or number of supporters

Easily manage their personalized dashboard with a private URL

These features are designed to enhance the dialogue between decision makers and the more than 120 million people who use Change.org – allowing both sides to make their voices heard and reach solutions more quickly.

On Thursday, October 1, nine people were killed and another nine were injured in a mass shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon.

Reuters called the tragedy one of “the deadliest among dozens of U.S. mass shootings in the past two years.” Newsweek counts it as one of 142 school shootings in the U.S. And The Guardian marks Roseburg as the 994th mass shooting in America over the last 1,004 days.

Do you want to reform gun control laws? Sign one of these petitions.

Gun violence is an epidemic in the United States. When President Obama addressed the American people about the tragedy on Thursday, he described the series of events as all too routine.

“But as I said just a few months ago, and I said a few months before that, and I said each time we see one of these mass shootings, our thoughts and prayers are not enough. It’s not enough.”

He continued, “This is a political choice that we make to allow this to happen every few months in America...the notion that gun violence is somehow different, that our freedom and our Constitution prohibits any modest regulation of how we use a deadly weapon, when there are law-abiding gun owners all across the country who could hunt and protect their families and do everything they do under such regulations doesn’t make sense.”

It is a sentiment echoed by many who are starting and signing petitions to reform gun control laws in their communities, their states, and across the country. Their efforts to change the background check process for firearm purchases, in particular, received a swell of support in the wake of the shooting in Oregon.

Nearly 98,000 people have signed petition created by Students Unite to improve background checks and reduce gun violence.

The student group has identified a major issue with gun background checks: states don’t have to submit information to a federal database that identifies who would be ineligible to possess firearms, such as those convicted of violent crime or those with mental illness.

The group is asking Congress to pass legislation drafted by Sen. Chuck Schumer that would allow the Department of Justice to develop rewards for states that submit records to the federal background check system and penalties for those that do not.

This federal database checks the background of every person that tries to buy a gun. What most people don’t know is that if the check isn’t completed in 72 hours, the gun can still be sold.

Another 41,000 people are banding together to ask Congress to close loopholes in the firearms sale process by making completed background checks mandatory for gun sales.

Help reform gun control laws in the U.S. by signing a petition.

While people are trying to reform gun laws in the U.S., this isn’t the only action being taken in the wake of the Roseburg shooting. How else are people reacting to the recent shooting in Oregon?

People are asking CNN, Fox, and MSNBC to commit to not publicizing the names of mass shooters.

“An alarming pattern has been recognized among these tragedies: The shooters almost invariably cite the resulting media attention as motivation for their crimes,” writes the petition starter, Erik Fox. “They do this for the immortality they believe the media will give them, and we can deny them that.”

While people want to curb coverage of the shooters, they want to elevate those who were heroes during the event.

More than 100,000 people are supporting a petition asking President Obama to grant the Medal of Freedom to Chris Mintz, a veteran who charged the shooter and was shot seven times as a result.

Every day people are winning campaigns on Change.org that address issues big and small. We’ll take a look at these victories and how the world changed in the last week.

There are more than four million registered Syrian refugees, according to United Nations. But it’s estimated that nine million Syrians have fled their homes since the outbreak of civil war in March 2011.

Many of those people have sought refuge in Europe. Between April 2011 and July 2015, more than 348,000 people submitted asylum applications, while many more have come through undocumented.

The European Union has been criticized for its handling of refugees -- and for its handling of refugees crossing the Mediterranean into Greece and Italy, in particular -- for much of this year. But awareness of the plight of Syrian refugees increased exponentially in September when an image was published of Aylan, a three-year-old who drowned as his family tried to flee to Syria for Europe.

People all over the world started asking their governments to take in refugees from Syria. On Change.org more than 100 petition across 10 countries have generated more than 780,000 signatures. And last week, several of those campaigns were declared victories.

See petitions people are starting around the world to help refugees from Syria.

In France, more than 95,000 people signed a petition asking President Hollande and François Baroin, President of the Association of Mayors of France, to meet with the 36,000 mayors in France to identify capacity for taking in refugees. As a result, The Ministry of Interior is organizing the reception of refugees in 700 municipalities in France.

And in Spain, a petition asking the Spanish government accept its fair share of refugees assigned by the European Union was signed by more than 306,000 people. The EU later reached an agreement that called for the distribution of 120,000 refugees among member states over the next two years and the Spanish government accepted their share of that quota.

France and Spain aren’t the only countries where citizens are vocalizing their support of Syrian refugees. People are petitioning their governments around the world:

More than 186,000 people in Mexico have asked their government to take in 10,000 refugees. This video shows some of those people who are willing to open their homes to those refugees:

More than 41,000 people in Germany are asking Angela Merkel to provide state and local governments with 10 billion Euros in emergency aid for refugee care. So far, four billion Euros have been allocated for this work.

On September 16, two petition starters delivered more than 300,000 signatures -- amassed over several petitions -- to the White House calling on the U.S. to increase the number of Syrian refugees being welcomed to the states. This petition, in particular, asks the U.S. to accept 65,000 refugees.

In Canada, more than 30,000 people are asking MP Chris Alexander to pledge to provide sanctuary for refugees. The country already agreed to take 13,000 by 2017, but signers want more refugees accepted sooner.

More than 26,000 in Australia are asking Prime Minister Tony Abbott to open the borders to refugees.

In the UK, more than 386,000 have signed a petition asking PM David Cameron to accept refugees not only from Syria, but also from other places in the Middle East and Africa. The campaign, which was started by The Independent, has been running using the hashtag #refugeeswelcome.

Is there an immigrant rights issue that you feel passionate about? Start your own petition and make change.

The Change.org team is dedicated to helping all people and communities create the change they’d like to see in the world. With over 115 million people taking action on Change.org in 196 countries, people everywhere are able to build support and drive solutions for important campaigns. Starting today, an even greater number of people, many of them living in the world’s biggest democracy, will be able to create change in their native language. We are excited to announce that Change.org is now available in Hindi.

This is a major step in making our platform more accessible for the global community - Hindi is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world with 425 million people who speak Hindi as their first language, and India has one of the fastest growing populations of Change.org users. There are:

3 million people using Change.org in India

Over 5,000 organizations using Change.org in India

Almost 1 million people in India have experienced a victory on Change.org

Over 40,000 petitions created on Change.org in India, half of which were created in the last year

Some of the most inspiring victories in Change.org’s history originated in India, and we can’t wait to see what’s next as more people access tools to create change:

Schools in Bangalore create guidelines to ensure the safety of children: over 150,000 supporters joined a concerned parent in calling for the creation of stricter security measures in schools like staff background checks

A father saves his son from one of the world’s rarest diseases: over 110,000 supporters helped a father receive subsidized treatments for his son and other patients diagnosed with Hunter Syndrome

Uber commits to improved safety procedures to protect passengers: after a woman was raped by an Uber driver in India, Alina Tiphagne and over 63,000 supporters made sure Uber committed to thorough background checks, document verification and police re-verification for drivers

Government announces acid sales regulations to curb acid attacks: Over 27,000 supporters joined Laxmi in lobbying for government regulation of acid sales and protecting innocent citizens from being victimized by brutal acid attacks in India

If you’d like to change your language to Hindi, you can use the location selector in the bottom right hand corner of Change.org to update your selection. You can find more information about managing your language settings here.

Stefan Tijerina was surprised when he answered the door to a CBS news film crew. But he made the most of the media attention in order to advance his cause: preventing animals from dying in cars parked in the hot Texas sun.

Stefan was tired of seeing dogs left in vehicles in parking lots. “I have three rescue dogs myself,” said Stefan. “It’s frustrating seeing other people not taking responsibility for their dogs. In Texas, if I break someone’s window, I will go to jail. Right now my hands are tied.”  

So Stefan started a petition to the Texas government to make it legal to break into a car to rescue an animal in need. A huge number of Change.org users agreed with Stefan and his petition was quickly signed by more than 120,000 people. The explosive support for Stefan’s petition brought the media to his door.

Sign up to get our Media Guide and learn how to use media to win your petition.

“I had no idea they were coming,” said Stefan. “They just turned up.”

Despite his surprise, Stefan gave an excellent interview and got a long and favorable story on local news. Reporters even showed the petition on screen, helping viewers to sign and support it. Media interest snowballed, with Stefan doing follow up interviews on radio.

The media attention grabbed the attention of Stefan’s elected representatives. “I contacted my house representative and he’s said he’s doing legal research into what would need to be done to pass this law,” said Stefan. “I’ve been called and emailed by staffers from their office with follow up questions.”

The legislative process can be slow, but that type of genuine and continued engagement from legislators is a very good sign.

Stefan is considering what to do next with his petition to get action from his legislators. There are lots of opportunities to use big online support to get more press and put more pressure on the people making a decision about a petition. For example, inviting signers to a delivery in the capital -- with their dogs -- could spur a second round of media attention.

With the support of so many signers, and good media coverage for his petition, Stefan is in a great position to win.

Want to learn how to use the media to get signatures and win your petition? Sign up to get our Media Guide.