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Friday, April 25, 2008
This time last year, then-governor Eliot Spitzer had just introduced a bill for same-sex marriage equality. The extra publicity and clout gave activists a booster shot right as they were preparing for the Equality and Justice Day in Albany. Advocacy group Empire State Pride Agenda (ESPA) spearheads the annual event, which includes training on how to lobby lawmakers and informational meetings about LGBT legislation in addition to speeches and rallies and opportunities to socialize and just have fun.
Last year, slightly more than 1,000 folks—a record-breaking number—from across the state participated in Equality and Justice Day, aka Lobby Day. And it had an effect: The Assembly passed the marriage-equality bill in June, just days before the session ended.
Lobby Day 2008 was held Tuesday, April 29. This year, we lacked the energy and momentum of a governor’s bill; most everyone’s attention has been directed to the presidential election; and many activists think that no LGBT bill is likely to see a floor vote this session because state lawmakers are up for re-election in November (ESPA’s Alan Van Capelle rejects this idea, as he states in our cover story).
In short, we were not expecting an energized Equality & Justice Day in Albany.
We were wrong.
More than 1,300 people attended, another record-breaker. On the agenda were three LGBT bills: the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA), the same-sex marriage equality bill and the anti-bullying Dignity for All Students Act. While lobbying, participants also thanked those Assembly members—Democrat and Republican—who voted for marriage.
While talking with various New Yorkers and listening to LGBT leaders and lawmakers, it struck us how important and effective lobbying is—and how blasé we’d become about the process. Write a letter to your Congress member? Really? It sounds so simple, so old-fashioned, so naive.
Maybe our attitude partly derives from where we live: Manhattan. Our representatives are great on our issues. We’re spoiled. So we were curious to attend a powwow with Assembly member Deborah Glick and Senator Tom Duane, the state’s first openly gay lawmakers in their respective houses. Both represent districts in Manhattan, and since both require no lobbying from us, they held a Q&A session with their constituents instead.
One audience member posed this general yet insightful question: “I realize it’s an election year and the three LGBT bills won’t get a vote, and I know my representatives already support the bills anyway. So what can I do to make a difference?”
Bingo.
The answer? Lobby. While stressing that lawmakers do indeed listen to their constituents, both Glick and Duane expanded on lobbying strategies.
“Write letters,” Glick said. “Whip people up around homophobic rhetoric—Republican Senators should feel the heat and at least keep their mouths shout and not use the ‘fear of the queer’ to get votes.”
Glick stressed that we must get our non-gay allies to show support for gay bills. Are you out to your parents? Siblings? To your neighbors? Co-workers? Ask them to visit a lawmaker or pen a letter.
Sen. Duane asked the man who posed the question whether he was a member of a professional organization or church. Yes on both counts. “Ask the organization to officially back the bill,” Duane recommended, explaining that unions and professional and religion associations often send out formal statements in support or opposition of legislation.
OK, now that we’ve convinced you it’s vital to lobby, we’ll leave you with instructions.
Actually, we’ll point you to ESPA’s instructions. Visit prideagenda.org and click on the
“issues explained” page. You’ll find pointers on lobbying in person, over the phone and via letters. Samples are included (ESPA also posted a video on YouTube showing effective lobby strategies). Contact information and voting scorecards for all the statewide lawmakers are also included on the site.
Class dismissed.
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