Welcome to "A Leading Light"

Welcome to “A Leading Light.” This new blog is another way for you as Kentucky Fairness Alliance (KFA) supporters to communicate and bounce ideas off me in my official capacity as the chairperson of the KFA Board of Directors. From what we can tell at the KFA, we are the first statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender education and advocacy organization to attempt this type of ongoing dialogue with our membership and community as a whole. However, the concept of an organization’s senior leadership blogging to increase communications is far from new. I, personally, was moved to begin this earlier in 2007 when Murray State University President Randy Dunn, where I am employed, began such a program. I’ve watched the activity of that blog and it seems to be received very well. It is another way for individuals to transmit ideas and opinions to those faced with making decisions on a daily basis. While I might not respond to each and every comment sent on the blog, rest assured I’ll be reading them.

This first blog is simple. It’s an introduction and nothing more. In the weeks ahead, I will be writing on various topics related to our work and seeking your feedback. I already have a running list of items to discuss such as the current threat of a special legislative session threatening fair healthcare coverage and the planning being done toward Out and About, our annual dinner to be held in Louisville this October, featuring HRC Foundation Board Chairperson Vic Basile as our nationally known keynote speaker. The topics will not always be about specific KFA activities. Sometimes, the topics will be regarding national happenings and/or other lgbt issues that are on my mind such as the recent Gallup poll (http://www.galluppoll.com/content/default.aspx?ci=27694&pg=1) that indicates almost 90% of the American public believes gays and lesbians should have equal job opportunities. That is worth a blog all its own. It is inspiring to see that statistic continue to climb and I’m glad to see Gallop doing that polling.

For those of you that do not know much about me, I’ll share some biographical information. Hopefully, this provides you with some perspective about me and the type activities that occupy my time. Please forgive the “copy and paste” of this information, but I’m a realist in the sense that I try to avoid duplication of effort (I may just be lazy).
“Jody Randall Cofer lives in western Kentucky, although he is originally from the Birmingham, Alabama area. He is employed at Murray State University in the Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Activity (URSA) office as the Program Specialist. His responsibilities include the coordination of: a statewide program entitled Posters-at-the-Capitol that showcases over one hundred and fifteen faculty-mentored projects performed by undergraduates to members of the Kentucky General Assembly, the annual MSU Scholars Week celebration, Chrysalis: The MSU Journal for Undergraduate Research, and he administers the URSA grant program. Jody has been with MSU since the fall of 2001. He assists the Kentucky Fairness Alliance as a member of their Board of Directors. Jody was selected in August, 2006 to serve a term as their Board chairperson to end in August, 2008. He serves on the Meetings Committee of the Equality Federation, the national organization that is a vehicle for state groups to network and address lgbt advocacy issues. Jody was the founding chairperson of the Marshall County Commission for the Arts and a former board member of the Kentucky Alliance for Arts Education. In his spare time, he enjoys travel, spending time with friends, and involvement in performing and visual arts. In April of this year, Jody was nominated for a Murray State University Staff Excellence Award.”

So, now that you know about my vision for “A Leading Light” and a little information on me, please share with me your ideas on how we might utilize this blog in the future. I plan to post my next entry sometime next week after returning from Nashville’s Pride.

~Jody