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
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6 comments:
A blog is a good idea Jody. I understand the Fairness organization is small with limited budget, but what will it take to keep the web page up to date?
Another question: I'm a native of Kentucky who has just returned after 30 years of being away and I'm not sure what to think of the fact that there is not a Pride parade in Lexington. From what little I've read,it sounds as though participation in the city's July Fourth is a substitute. What are your thoughts? Cooper
Hi, Cooper. Thanks for checking out “A Leading Light.” I’m glad to hear you are interested in our work for fairness across Kentucky. I’d agree that lgbt organizations must consistently look to grow their memberships and supports, which should grow budgets in turn, but we at the KFA have a strong track record of drumming up the support needed to fuel our continued growth. I’m not exactly sure what you mean about our website. To the extent that I am aware, the KFA site is up-to-date. It is very common for new information regarding the KFA or fairness across our Commonwealth to be posted to our site on a weekly basis via our “newsroom.” If you find things that appear to be dated material or you have something that might be of interest for posting, please be sure to send it my way. You can also send things directly to the KFA Communication Director, Misty York, at myork@kentuckyfairness.org. Regarding the Pride information, I’m not sure that I have all the facts about a festival so I’ll seek out some information on exactly what has been done in the Fayette area in years past. I’ve always been a supporter of folks getting out and showing their colors (in appropriate venues). I have to say that some of the most interesting and odd characters I’ve met has been at Pride festivals across the region. Until I found out what exactly you can do there in your area, I’d encourage you in the interim to plan a few road trips to attend other celebrations. The northern Kentucky/Cincinnati area festival is June 9th and 10th. The KFA has been involved in a collaborative planning effort with several other organizations to strengthen our representation there. Their festival is “Pride is Alive.” Their website is www.prideisalive.com. Also, Louisville’s festival is June 15th and 16th. Their website is www.kentuckianapridefestival.com. Well, that’s all I’ve got to offer at the moment. I’m in the car on my way to Nashville to make an appearance at their Pride, which is going to feature Martha Wash in concert.
Proud to be! ~Jody
I think this is a great idea and will provide individuals or groups the opportunity to ask questions, raise concerns or offer their opinions on a wide variety of issues.
This is a HOT idea! Keep up the great work on fighting for fairness!
Gypsy Red
Hi Jody, I think this is a great idea. I really enjoy Dr. Dunn's blog, and I look forward to yours being just as good.
I have a few ideas that you could possibly discuss here.
The first that thing I can think of is an issue that directly involves
me. I am a student at Murray State University, and a member of Murray State Alliance, the Gay-Straight Alliance here on campus. I am the chair of a committee that is working to change MSU's non-discrimination policy. As you might know, Murray State is the ONLY public University in the commonwealth that does NOT have sexual orientation included in its non-discrimination policy, despite the overwhelming support that the campus community has expressed to the Board of Regents to have this changed.
There is another thought that has crossed my mind in the past few months. I think that it would be really nice if there was some sort of Pride event organized for the Purchase area. The only 2 cities I could think of that could host it would be Paducah or Murray. Even though those are both relatively small as compared to Louisville or Nashville, I think that such an event could be very successful and fun.
Anyway, thats my 2 cents on things. Thank you so much for being bold enough and having the initiative to start this blog, and I am looking forward to some very positive and productive discussions here.
I am glad you are supportive of this new venture, Anthony. I’m sure Dr. Dunn will find your comment pleasing if he stumbles upon this blog. I am very much aware of the work you have invested in getting the anti-discrimination policy at Murray State brought up with the times. Your role as a leader in the lgbt student group at MSU is very important. As you might recall, last October I spoke before the MSU Staff Congress regarding this matter. I am pleased that they joined the bandwagon, voted, and submitted a resolution to Dr. Dunn and other senior administrators encouraging them to bring our policy up-to-date and inline with the other state universities across the Commonwealth. Further, at the time of my presentation, over half of MSU benchmark institutions determined by Kentucky’s Council on Postsecondary Education include protection against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Private institutions of higher education across Kentucky such as Bellarmine, Berea, Centre, and Spalding include it. And, while I knew I would take some flack over it, I included the comment that all eight of the “ivy league” institutions have such included in their adopted policies and as we are Kentucky’s Public Ivy institution… we should be no different. That said… here we are nine months later and I, personally, believe fair-minded folks are closer now to getting the anti-discrimination policy at MSU brought up-to-date. In my six years, I do not recall a time when the Student Government Association, Faculty Senate, and Staff Congress have all endorsed this change. I am hopeful to see this discussion continue and ACTION take place. As to your idea of a pride event in Paducah or Murray, I’m game in supporting it. I know that at one time some type of pride event or picnic was held annually in Paducah, but I couldn’t tell you if that still continues. If it does – I haven’t heard about it. I’m willing to put that on my list of things to look at, but I encourage you to pull together a few folks interested in organizing such and we’ll get together on it. ~Jody
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