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Now that I’ve been back in Pittsburgh for a day, I’m mostly recuperated from yesterday’s trip to State College for the PA Equality Summit. Sponsored by the ACLU of PA and Equality Advocates PA, the gathering was designed to join existing social justice groups as well as individuals together and lay out a plan for advocacy work this fall on issues related the the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer communities. The summit was also the location for the Equality Advocates Board of Directors meeting, and was my first meeting since being invited to join the board. and if that wasn’t enough, I gave a presentation on Social Media.

First, just a short comment about the board meeting. It is a real pleasure and an honor to work with some amazing smart and committed folks, and I am so excited to be in this position.

Next let me talk about the presentation. It seemed to go really well, and the audience was pretty engaged throughout, and asked some great questions. As promised, a SocialMedia (my slide set) is attached. I hope I wasn’t too misleading about the slides (which I couldn’t show there). I guess they are pretty lame, but there is some good info there, so enjoy. I love talking about social Media, almost as much as I love talking about being an advocate for GLBTQ issues. There is a sense I get in my gut, a feeling that the words come from my core in a way that is different for me. I attribute it to just really loving what I’m talking about. so, if you need a guy to run his mouth at your meeting, let me know- I’m always happy to talk about these topics.

So, let me share some general thoughts about the Summit overall. I don’t know what the final tally of attendees was, but it looked like quite a few to me. What was more impressive than just the numbers however, was the diversity expressed within the group. There were folks who had been activists for a long time, and folks who were just looking for a way to get involved and get started. A group of 4 or 5 had come from Bedford County, where they don’t have any GLBT-related group, but they want to start one. I think most every part of the state was represented within this mixture of folks. In addition to folks that might see themselves as “inside the GLBTQ communities, there was an excellent number of straight allies there! One of my favorite bloggers, John from the Pennsylvania Progressive was there, and we had an awesome chat about blogging, writing styles, finding your voice and those types of things of interest to a blogger. But, he wasn’t the only one! I was also thrilled to see Pittsburgh’s Jason Cable there, who writes a blog as well as does a podcast. Between people from Faith communities, to liberal activists, PFLAG members and a wide assortment of folks from many parts of the GLBTQ communities, it was a unique gathering.

For some, PA HB 300 has never been out of mind, but the long drawn out budget fiasco in Harrisburg has meant that for many, anything outside the budget has been totally off the radar. As we get ready to move into Fall, it is time to refocus on PA HB 300 and why passing it is so important. Wow- been months since I have typed those words. While nation-wide same-sex marriage is trendy (and not unimportant here in PA) the reality is that every state is in a different place when it comes to this issue, with some states going for civil marriage, others going for civil unions, others for domestic partnerships, and still others, going the other direction entirely. PA is pretty far away from civil marriage for gays and lesbians, given the fact that earlier in 2009, was the very first time we have ever had any vote whatsoever on any GLBT-themed legislation. PA is unique though- we are one of only a few states which has squashed an attempt to push an anti-gay marriage amendment through in the state. So, how are we going to get basic protection in housing, employment, and public accommodations passed?

The morning was spent reviewing HB 300, why it is written as it is, what it covers, and what are some talking points about it. A fair amount of discussion surrounded the issue of Gender Identity and Expression- what this language means (and doesn’t mean) and why is it integral to the bill. Something, I guess I knew, but hadn’t really thought about: the Inclusive ENDA bill currently moving through the US House is a great idea, but unlike the state legislation, it only covers employment. So, I’m glad that legislation is moving ahead, but we need PA HB 300 so that everyone is protected from discrimination in housing and public accommodations. We also talked a lot about the religious exemption and what it covers and why.

You wouldn’t know it based on the misinformation spread by the legislation’s opponents, but the bill has a religious exemption as well as case law that means that religious organizations are basically exempt from laws like this when it comes to teaching and communications personnel- which covers a lot of people, like pastors, music directors, etc. An example of this in action is that the fact that even though it is unlawful to discriminate based on sex, no one is filing claims against the Catholic Church nor forcing them to hire female priests. The problem for some however, comes outside of religious institutions, when individuals feel they should have a right to discriminate based on their personal religious views. Even in these situations, the discrimination seems clear. There is no quote from the Bible that says, you shouldn’t allow a gay person to earn a living, for example.

There seem to be several reasons why legislators are not moving quickly on HB 300. Some may be afraid that if they vote for it, there will be a conservative backlash next election. Someone raised the statistic (not sure where to find it) that shows that no politician who has voted for GLBT rights legislation has ever lost their seat because of it. But another factor may be keeping some reluctant. A number of legislators don’t believe that people in their district care about this bill, so our job is to get the word out that we do care about PA HB 300!

There are a number of ways ranging from least effective to most effective, when it comes to getting your message across to your elected officials:

• Send a “blasted” email. This is the easiest but least effective form of communication with your elected official. You receive an email from Equality Advocates, or the HRC or someone, and in it is a way to send a quick email off to your legislator by pushing a button. Ideally everyone who gets one of these will respond and send the email, but because it is a “form letter” email, it doesn’t carry quite as much weight with the legislator. A tip for making it stand out and mean more: add a personalized message at the beginning of the email body.
• Send a personal email or fax. This is most effective, if you email or fax your own legislator. some legislators ignore stuff that come from outside their district, but some pay attention to it.
• Pick up the phone and call! This is a pretty good thing to do, especially if your legislator votes for a bill important to you. Often, they only hear from disgruntled constituents, so make sure to thank them when they vote positively for you. If you call, you most likely will get a staff person who will record whatever you say and pass it on to the legislator.
• The very best, most effective way however is to meet with your elected official! Here is an instruction guide on how to do that.