Summer Meeting of LGBT Statewide Leaders

Hey, folks:

Howdy from Columbus! It has been a great past few days. The summer meeting of statewide lgbt leaders from across the country organized by the national Equality Federation has been great, again! I received loads of great information and I'm pretty sure Travis, KFA Vice-Chair, did as well. I think I can speak for both in saying the sessions at this year's meeting were really helpful.

I'm excited to get back and share the information I've gathered at the meeting with fellow fairness leaders in Kentucky.

~Jody


TRESSA FEHER, DIRECTOR OF THE LEADERSHIP NETWORK AT THE GAY & LESBIAN VICTORY FUND IN WASHINGTON, D.C. WITH KFA BOARD VICE-CHAIR TRAVIS MYLES.


RUTH HACKFORD-PEER (I love you too, Ruthie, hehe), MANAGER OF PUBLIC POLICY AT EQUALITY UTAH AND ME

Fancy Farm, a mtg, and here we come Columbus

Hey, folks:

It’s a busy week, but I want to update all the fairness folks out there. KFA’s leadership gathered this past weekend in western Kentucky for the 128th annual Fancy Farm Picnic. I’ll leave the commentary on the political speeches to all the other bloggers out there. Maybe you should checkout Mark Hebert on his WHAS political blog – it’s a pretty good recap: http://www.beloblog.com/WHAS_Blogs/PoliticalBlogger/2008/08/fancy-farm-first-impressions-b.html. I totally agree that Gov. Beshear won the prize for the day. In slang terms, he went old school. I totally loved it. Sens. McConnell and Bunning read to the crowd; they didn’t stump. I don’t enjoy sitting in 95 degree weather and being read to – I can do that at the house.

The meeting was really good. We’ve got a really good group of Board members. We took care of the regular housekeeping business and spend some time discussing things such as the statewide fairness summit being planned, programming over the next couple months including the shared booth at the KY State Fair with Louisville’s Fairness Campaign, and the Out & About gala on Nov. 7. As for O&A, anyone that is interested in serving as a Star Partner (formerly known as table captains) send me or one of the KFA leaders a shout out. Individuals that are commit to partner in that capacity agree to sell 8 tickets by Oct. 22. In other business at the meeting, we brought on two new Board members. They are Mike Handley of Louisville and Chad Hundley of Lexington.

The 4th quarter Board meeting was scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 8 in Louisville at the law office of Board Vice-Chairperson Travis Myles.

This week started busy and will remain that way through Sunday night. Christina, Travis, and I all head up to Columbus, OH on Thursday for the national Equality Federation Summer Meeting. That is the annual meeting organized by and for statewide lgbt leaders across the country. I serve on the planning committee for that so especially excited. Some of the sessions I’m particularly pumped about are “Connecting the Dots in the Mindset of the Religious Moveable Middle,” “Using Your Data: Mapping and Tracking Tools to Maximize Effectiveness in Strategic Planning, Fundraising, Lobbying, and Organizing,” and “Talking to the Moveable Middle About LGBT Issues.” It wouldn’t be the annual meeting of the Fedheads if we didn’t have a little fun… on Friday evening Equality Ohio is hosting a reception for attendees and we have the opportunity to catch a Clippers game or go to the Ohio State Fair. Hmmm… I may encourage hitting the reception and then going out to eat and skip the heat! hehe. I hear we’ve got to go to Union Station for dinner. On Saturday evening, the National Center for Transgender Equality is hosting a reception for attendees and then we’re meeting up with a former KFA Board member and friend for dinner.

Alright. I’m done writing for now. I’ll probably write more from Columbus.

~Jody

Will Arizona Be Abandoned?

Below is a piece written by Barbara McCullough-Jones in Arizona. I met Barbara last year while attending the national Equality Federation's annual summer meeting for statewide lgbt leaders. She is a great leader in the lgbt community and I'm looking forward to seeing her next week at this year's annual meeting. ~Jody

Will Arizona Be Abandoned?
By: Barbara McCullough-Jones
July 29th, 2008

This is a question I am asked nearly everyday from folks in Arizona and from folks around the country. They ask questions like how much support came from outside Arizona in 2006? Will anyone outside of Arizona give money this time to defeat Prop 102? Will anyone inside Arizona give money? How do you feel about so much money going to California? What about Florida? Can Arizona win this one too? Do you feel abandoned by those supporting California especially but also Florida since Arizona is the only state in the nation to defeat an anti-marriage amendment?

There is no easy answer to any of those questions. Frankly, I’m not sure there is value in even trying to come up with an answer. I do believe however, the real value lies in the fact that we are even having this discussion. Internal and external to Arizona.

In an odd way it shows people care. They care enough about Arizona’s contribution to the movement to worry whether we might be slighted financially in this campaign season. They care enough about our statewide LGBT infrastructure to be concerned we are not damaged in the process – at least hopeful that we might escape long term or irreparable damage.

Instead of answering those questions with only the “what’s in front of us” view, I prefer to answer from a 30,000 foot perspective. That means we have to look at our work as a marathon and not a sprint. It means we cannot be angry or feel slighted by donors who, from their own perspective, believe their need and desire to participate in the movement, to make a difference, is best served by giving to a campaign that in their opinion would provide the greatest impact to achieving equality – to meeting their personal political goals. Because we all come from different backgrounds, different economies, different cultural experiences, no one has any right to pass judgment on another for the decisions we make in political giving. Sometimes those decisions are very personal, sometimes they are just hard core strategic moves and sometimes they are the simplicity of altruism.

The higher ground at 30,000 feet allows us to let wash beneath our feet the hardness created by politics – in a way it is cleansing. Don’t think for a minute though that coming down from the high ground to do the work is easy. But we have to have a place to land. Something you can touch, hear and believe in. For me that place is community – it is the work. It is the very place where we interact with one another on a very human and hopefully humanitarian level. It is that place that sometimes stinks, sometimes is so loud with opposing voices you can’t hear yourself think and on occasion calls into question our belief in that very humanity we seek to be a part of.

Over the past several weeks in particular we have been fighting a battle that stems from the worst display of disintegration of democracy I have ever witnessed. We are fighting with every tool at our disposal to call out those who would seek to limit the fullness of our lives in order to advance their own.

Amidst our ongoing Senate debacle we have organized and are executing our 2008 elections strategy; we have organized a Statewide Coordinated Campaign to defeat Prop 102; and we continue to build the capacity of Equality Arizona – design and deliver programs that change hearts and minds while also managing a hard-hitting public affairs agenda to change public policy.

We need a win in California. We need a win in Florida. We need a win in Arizona. That very trifecta has the potential to change the face of American politics. Just for clarification, “trifecta” as a slang term is used to describe any successful or favorable phenomenon or characteristic that comes in threes (according to Wikipedia). That’s what our national agenda should be about.

There is often much angst about coastal states dictating what happens to the rest of the country but today, we need to support our coasts! And yes, tucked into the Southwest - in a place in mid-August where you’re sure you’re already doing time in purgatory - we WILL continue to do our part to advance equality - to contribute to the greater good of our great state and our nation.

Do we want and need your contributions? Yes! Not at the exclusion of California or Florida but in addition too. Just do it. Don’t hesitate, don’t even blink. Just write the checks…address one to California, one to Florida and one to Arizona and sign them simply…from one who cares.

Barbara McCullough-Jones is the Executive Director of Equality Arizona. You can support Arizona’s efforts at the Vote No On Prop 102 website.

The Language of God

Hi, folks: I just finished reading The Language of God by Dr. Francis Collins. Dr. Collins is a world known physician, geneticist, and former head of the Human Genome Project. The book outlines Dr. Collins’ journey to understand how faith and science can both be supported and maybe even “right”. There are parts where his lingo does get a little science heavy, but it’s got some good points on both fronts. I suggest it for anyone that wants to say that science doesn’t have to be threatened by belief in God and vice versa. ~Jody

Foundation using religion to divide

Hi, all: Below is a piece that Rev. Dr. Pennybacker, who chairs KFA's Religious Advisory Committee, placed in the Herald-Leader earlier this week. Enjoy ~Jody

Foundation using religion to divide, not to embrace
By Albert M. Pennybacker

At issue: June 30 Herald-Leader article, ”Group Targets 6 on UK Faculty,“
The attack dogs are still at work among us, this time under the banner of The Family Foundation.

Many splendid comments, such as the statement by UK President Lee T. Todd Jr., have been made. But progressive religious voices have not been clearly heard, though it is a religious view that fuels this action.

I am appalled that the foundation has attacked respected professors at the very best of our Kentucky universities and sought to manipulate state funding against them.

And this action, note, is taken on the basis of the foundation's ideological agenda. Has The Family Foundation been appointed guardian of what is intellectually appropriate and morally acceptable?

Second, the foundation is an integral part of a larger network of exclusivist religion -- ”my way or the highway“ -- which is always suspect.

Why else would legitimate areas of study be attacked as offensive or inappropriate? Good religion affirms an open mind, advocates honest inquiry and applauds sound intellectual contributions to understanding the complexities in the life we share. These foster our living better together.

Third, have you noticed how preoccupied with managing our sexual identity and behavior these fundamentalist religious themes often are?

Resilient religion has always believed that human sexuality is a good and generous gift, for our joy and for our sharing in God's creation. Pinch-nosed piety has always missed the point. Most of us are very tired of having this sort of accusatory and religiously narrow voice inflicted on us.

Enough! It needs to be thoroughly repudiated. I applaud these six professors for seeking to enlarge human understanding. Many religious people concur.