Human Rights Campaign Awards $104,000 in Equality Funds to State Organizations
Human Rights Campaign,
Oct. 31, 2001
For Immediate Release
Liz Seaton
Deputy Field Director
Human Rights Campaign
919 18th Street, N.W., Suite 800
Washington, D.C. 20006
(202) 216-1507 phone
(202) 347-5323 facsimile
liz.seaton@hrc.org
www.hrc.org
Providing Assistance to Groups that Advance LGBT Equality at the State
Level is a Priority, Says HRC
WASHINGTON—The Human Rights Campaign announced
today it has awarded twenty-three Equality Fund grants totaling $104,000 to
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender state lobby groups across the nation.
The grants should help these organizations further advance LGBT equality at
the state level, says HRC.
"The Equality Fund grants have become an essential component in the
struggle for equality and shows HRC’s dedication to achieving success at the
state level," says HRC National Field Director Seth Kilbourn.
"Unlike most of the grants that tend to be available to organizations,
the Equality Fund grants can be used directly for lobbying purposes. This
means that GLBT groups can spend more time working to directly impact the
decisions of lawmakers."
"I truly believe that the work being done on the grassroots level,
state by state, is absolutely essential to the success of our movement not
just locally, but nationally," says Beth Robinson, chair of Vermonters
for Civil Unions, which is the lead lobby group working to protect civil
unions from those who seek to overturn them. "HRC’s allocation of
significant resources to state organizations to do that work is vitally
important."
Thirteen of the 23 grants totaling $62,000 will be used for lobbying
efforts to advance state legislation. Two $5,000 grants will help pay for
voter file projects that will help to pass further nondiscrimination
legislation and three $10,000 grants will be used towards ballot measure
campaigns.
South Carolina’s Alliance for Full Acceptance has been awarded $3,000 to
arrange for a strategy meeting with LGBT organizations. Two states have
received $5,000 grants that will help in their process of each hiring a field
organizer to help mobilize the grassroots on legislation efforts. Polling has
also become a key issue in helping to achieve equality, and two states will be
receiving $4,000 and $5,000 grants respectively to help with these strategies.
The $4,000 grant HRC awarded to Unity Utah, a new state political action
committee, will help them launch the group’s inaugural advocacy efforts.
"In this, our first year, this grant is incredibly important as we
lobby the Salt Lake City Council to permanently codify sexual orientation as
part of the city’s anti-discrimination policy. The grant allows us to mount
a viable campaign for the change in policy," said Unity Utah’s
executive director Michael Mitchell.
In several states with organizations receiving a grant for a second year,
the grant money will assist in funding the continuation of the project that
began last year. Equality North Carolina, for example, is continuing its
efforts to repeal the state’s "crimes against nature" law by
conducting a poll that will determine effective messaging for the legislative
campaign. OutFront Minnesota is also carrying on their work from last year by
continuing to advocate for domestic partner benefits in the state employee’s
contract. The California Alliance for Pride and Equality has received a $5,000
grant in order to continue their work of compiling a database of one million
pro-gay voters, which will help with grassroots lobbying efforts.
Seven new state organizations receiving Equality Funds are the Arkansas
Equality Network, the Delaware ACLU Lesbian and Gay Rights Project, Idaho’s
Your Family, Friends and Neighbors, Inc., Nebraska’s Citizens for Equal
Protection, Oklahoma’s Cimarron Alliance Foundation, South Carolina’s
Alliance for Full Acceptance, and Unity Utah. These organizations have
projects ranging from conducting polls on hate crimes and discrimination to
hiring a lobbyist that will help to pass a sexual orientation
nondiscrimination bill. All of these organizations are playing key roles in
the struggle for equality and HRC is proud to be able to work with their
individual efforts.
In the next grant cycle a new staff member dedicated to state level work
will manage the Equality Fund grants program. Kylar Broadus, a transgender
attorney who is currently serving on the board of the state lobby group For
the Personal Rights of Missourians (PROMO) and is on National Stonewall
Democrats Board, will begin serving as HRC’s state legislative manager and
counsel on January 2, 2002. Broadus brings local policy expertise as well,
having served on the City of Columbia Human Rights Commission.
"The experience and perspective that Kylar brings, from having worked
with state and local policymakers in a heartland state, will add another
dimension of depth to our field team," said Kilbourn. "We expect
that he will help us to meet the increasing number of requests for project
partnerships and assistance from the state lobby groups."
The Human Rights Campaign is the largest national lesbian and gay political
organization, with members throughout the country. It effectively lobbies
Congress, provides campaign support and educates the public to ensure that
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans can be open, honest and safe
at home, at work and in the community.
GRANTS AWARDED
Arkansas Equality Network: $5,000 for voter file project, which will be
used to advocate for hate crimes and safe school legislation
California Alliance for Pride and Equality: $5,000 towards compiling a
database of one million pro-gay voters that will help lobby and legislation
efforts
Connecticut’s Love Makes a Family: $5,000 to fund a legislative effort
for marriage/civil unions
The Delaware ACLU Lesbian and Gay Rights Project: $5,000 to hire a lobbyist
for their sexual orientation nondiscrimination bill
Idaho’s Your Family, Friends & Neighbors, Inc.: $5,000 to mobilize
grassroots lobbying to help repeal sodomy laws
Maine Lesbian and Gay Political Alliance: $5,000 to retain a professional
lobbyist that will represent the LGBT community in the state legislature
Maryland’s Free State Justice: $5,000 for message development for
referenda campaign on the newly-passed Anti-Discrimination Act of 2001
Michigan Equality: $2,500 to train political volunteers that will fight
local anti-gay ballot initiatives
Michigan’s Triangle Foundation: $2,500 to detail staff to work with
campaigns against local anti-gay ballot measures
OutFront Minnesota: $5,000 to advocate for domestic partner benefits in the
state employees’ contract
For the Personal Rights of Missourians (PROMO): $5,000 to assist in the
funding of a field organizer for grassroots efforts on a non-discrimination
bill
Nebraska’s Citizens for Equal Protection: $5,000 to hire a professional
lobbyist to advocate for laws to protect lesbian and gay families from housing
and employment discrimination
Equality North Carolina: $5,000 for a poll that will determine effective
messaging for the legislative campaign to repeal the state’s "crimes
against nature" law
Coalition for Equality in New Mexico: $5,000 for lobbying efforts that will
help to create an anti-bullying bill to protect students
Oklahoma’s Cimarron Alliance Foundation: $4,000 to conduct a poll to
guide the development of strong messages, with special emphasis on hate crimes
and discrimination
Pennsylvania joint grant to the Center for Lesbian and Gay Rights,
Pennsylvania Rights Coalition, and the Pennsylvania Gay and Lesbian Alliance:
$5,000 to work on LGBT hate crimes bill
South Carolina’s Alliance for Full Acceptance: $3,000 for a strategy
meeting with LGBT organizations and allies to develop a strategic plan for the
state
Texas Lesbian/Gay Rights Lobby: $5,000 to support lobby efforts to defeat
bans on same-sex marriage and civil unions and to advance a safe schools
initiative
Unity Utah: $4,000 to lobby the Salt Lake City Council to codify an
existing mayoral executive order that prohibits discrimination in city
employment based on sexual orientation
Vermonters for Civil Unions Legislative Defense Fund: $5,000 for lobbying
efforts to keep the legislature from denigrating the legal status of civil
unions as a marriage-equivalent
Virginians for Justice: $4,000 to use polling data developed last year to
educate legislators on the need for repeal/reform of the state’s criminal
sodomy law
Washington’s Fairness Lobby: $5,000 to hire a part-time field organizer
to help coordinate legislature efforts, such as the civil rights bill and safe
schools bill
West Virginia Lesbian & Gay Coalition: $4,000 to hire a new lobbyist to
reach out to the state’s rural communities and create further support for
hate crimes and nondiscrimination bills
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