The Human Rights Campaign held its Spring 2010 Equality Convention during the first weekend of March. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals and allies descended on Washington, D.C from throughout the nation. On the first day of the convention attendees were afforded the opportunity to lobby their state’s members of congress on Capitol Hill to discuss legislation that affect LGBT individuals. Throughout the day, six ordinary, every-day, Colorado citizens sat down with legislators and Congressional staff members. Participating, from Colorado were Hank Provost, Renaldo Phillips, Faye Tate, Aydrian Richardson, Jonathan Horst, and Nader Kawas (pictured left to right).
For most in the group this was their first time lobbying Congress and speaking to legislators about the issues that affect them personally. On the agenda were the repeal of the discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy through the passage of the Military Readiness Enhancement Act (MREA), passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), passage of the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act (DPBO), and increased funding for HIV/Aids through the Early Treatment for HIV Act (ETHA).
In addition to the personal plea to legislators for support of these bills, we wanted to directly thank them for voting in favor of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act which was signed in to law by President Obama on October 28, 2009. This law gives the Department of Justice (DOJ) the power to investigate and prosecute bias-motivated violence by providing the DOJ with jurisdiction over crimes of violence where a perpetrator has selected a victim because of the person's actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. Of Colorado’s nine US legislators, only one voted against this bill.
The group had the opportunity to thank Representatives Betsy Markey and Diana DeGette directly. These two women devoted a significant portion of their day to meet directly with the HRC Colorado delegation. The discussions were honest and open. Though living in a fiscally conservative region of the state, Representative Markey holds the belief that issues affecting the LGBT community are matters that ultimately affect all Americans and therefore are a moral obligation for her to support. Representative DeGette has been a longtime supporter and advocate for the LGBT community and again expressed her willingness to work toward advancing full equality in the law in every way possible.
Faye is a straight ally and employee at CH2MHill. Faye spoke to legislators about the value of having a federal ENDA that would prohibit discrimination in the workplace on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. The most powerful stories Faye shared were of co-workers coming to her for guidance and moral support to come out as a gay or transgender individual in the workplace. These individuals knew they could come to Faye because she would recognize them for the value they brought to the company as an employee and not cast them aside for their “difference”. Faye recognized that these co-workers and employees brought many great talents to the business and she acknowledged the fear they had of being fired or passed up for promotion because they were gay or transgender. Together, with her management staff, Faye helped create a diversity committee within CH2MHill that implemented an inclusive ENDA and focuses training on the uniqueness of every individual and the positive characteristics that every employee brings to the workplace.
The federal government is the largest employer in the nation. Currently, it does not provide benefits for same-sex domestic partners of federal civilian employees on the same basis as spousal benefits. Aydrian shared the struggle he and his partner have had with choosing which companies or government entities they wish to work in after college. Aydrian’s partner is in the competitive industry of software engineering. He spoke on the reality of the market and how the federal government is missing out on many qualified and sought after individuals in all spectrums of business. When Aydrian and his partner sat down to discuss potential employees, one of the essential qualities that factored in to their choice was whether the employer offered benefits to them as same sex partners and whether they would receive equal pay for equal work. At the state level Colorado does provide same sex partner benefits, so it was decided that working for the state was preferable to working for the federal government. Passage of DPBO would bring the federal government in line with the majority of Fortune 500 companies and nearly half of state governments.
Amongst the contingency from Colorado were two military veterans, Hank and Renaldo. These two men discussed the impact “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” has had on the readiness and force of our military throughout the world. Currently we are engaged in two wars and fight alongside at least twelve nations that allow soldiers to enlist and to serve openly, being honest about who they are. Under DADT, US soldiers deal with the everyday fear that they might be ousted for being lesbian or gay. This fear hurts unit cohesion by imposing secrecy and lies. Renaldo spoke about the need for passage of the MREA that would repeal DADT and create an atmosphere of honesty and respect within our military. Renaldo currently holds a top secret clearance that he obtained while in the Air Force. After serving time in the military he chose to find employment in the private sector, working for Lockheed Martin and Boeing, where he would not face the dilemma of lying to coworkers and supervisors. The government spent millions of dollars securing Renaldo’s security clearance, and they allowed that money to be wasted, losing him to the private industry, simply because he is a gay man. Renaldo’s story is just one of the thousands of men and women who were in technical fields or had specialty skills, like Arabic linguists, that chose not to reenlist in the military or were discharged for coming out about their sexuality. Fortunately, for the national security of our nation, President Obama and top level military personnel have recognized the harm DADT has had on our fighting force and, along with Congress, are working for passage of the MREA and full repeal of DADT.
Senator Mark Udall sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee and has been a cosponsor of the Senate version of MREA. The day prior to visiting his office, he helped introduce the legislation to the Senate along with Senator Carl Levine. Though he did not have the opportunity to meet directly with us, his Legislative Assistant, Jacob Swanton, did sit down with us and share the Senator’s passion for repealing DADT and creating a stronger, more effective military. Joining Jacob was Jennifer Sisk, the Senator’s Legislative Correspondent and Emily Paladino, Legislative Assistant.
One of the greatest tragedies to impact our nation in the past three decades is the AIDS epidemic. You’ll be hard pressed to meet anyone that hasn’t been impacted by HIV or AIDS, whether through a friend contracting the disease or a family member dying from it. Having lost friends to AIDS Nader has been engaged in HIV/AIDS walks and fundraisers throughout the country. Nader and Jonathan reported that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that the number of new HIV infections exceeds 56,000 each year, in the US alone. While there’s been considerably more funding under President Obama than the previous administration, the CDC estimates that it needs additional money to mount effective prevention efforts. In addition, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) requires more money to fund its fight for research and a cure.
One of the key pieces of legislation Nader asked legislators to support was the Early Treatment for HIV Act (ETHA). ETHA would permit state Medicaid programs to provide HIV treatment to individuals before their disease progresses to AIDS. Currently, an individual can only qualify for Medicaid assistance after the disease has developed in to AIDS. Treating those who are HIV-positive early in the progression of the disease provides numerous benefits, providing therapy earlier to keep the individuals viral loads suppressed and delaying the onset of the opportunistic infections. Doing this decreases the transmissibility of the disease, thereby reducing new infections.
In their first terms in Congress Representative Ed Perlmutter and Senator Michael Bennet have done an extraordinary job immersing themselves in the struggles LGBT individuals face on a daily basis. They have made it a point to reach out to the community within Colorado and listen to personal stories and learn how they can help. This atmosphere of sincerity was never more evident than when meeting with their staff in Washinton, D.C. Congressman Perlmutter’s Legislative Assistant, Jose Rodriguez, went well beyond the time allotted us to ensure he listened to and took in every fact, personal struggle and plea so that he could share it directly with the Congressman. Likewise, Representative John Salazar’s Legislative Assistant, Alfonso Lopez, reiterated to the group that he would share every concern with the Congressman.
Representative Doug Lamborn provided three Legislative Assistants to sit and discuss the issues the LGBT community is facing in Colorado. Representative Lamborn has never cosponsored a bill that would further equality in the LGBT community, nor has he ever voted in favor of any. They shared the real life stories of discrimination and the very real hardships the Congressman has supported in his votes against equality.
On Capitol Hill the HRC members from Colorado quickly learned that they are supported by nearly every one of their elected officials to Congress. Too often the LGBT community does not interact with all of their allies in Congress.Through more lobbying efforts we hope to become better at reaching out to those that hold deeply that the issues facing the LGBT community are issues of equality in the civil rights movement of the 21st century. There are many thanks to be given to each Representative, Senator, and staff member that took time out of their busy schedule to meet with citizens from their state to discuss what they can do to help bring about the equality they mutually agree should be written in to law.
