The invitation to lobby at our state capitol regardless of your experience or expertise was an invigorating dive into citizen lobbying.  On the first day of the conference after riding a bus from Baltimore to DC, I was sitting along side youth just out of college, some still in college, boomers like me, and non profit community leaders.

Together, in one morning we created a dialogue that said loud and clear: we are a community united for equality.  I left feeling I had done something good, met good people and made a difference with just a few hours invested.  I have been involved in lobbying before, but was so impressed with the organizations ability to do a two hour training and ready us to be effective in front of senators, congress members and staffers.  Seeing 300 people with their purple and pink badges descend from the buses and head up the capitol steps was a picture I won’t soon forget.

I learned how important our individual stories are to helping politicians have examples to support their positions when they agree with the policies we are proposing and how important our stories are to educate and potentially persuade those who can’t see the urgency of our requests. I learned about how the laws protecting women from violence were insensitive to same gender couples finding many turned away at the very shelters made for their safety.  I learned about how people in Washington are using states rights as an excuse for non intervention and deliniation on bullying in schools and how they use ‘putting burdens on business” to avoid signing on to the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and the Fair Paycheck Act.  One staffer quoted his senator by saying ‘he doesn’t see why we need the Fair Paycheck Act when we have the equal pay amendment”.  We then pointed out that we’ve had that for decades and still women are paid 77c on the dollar to men with blacks at 70c and Latina’s trailing at 66c.  Clearly the equal pay act needs more teeth.

During the conference, we heard from members of the administration about the work they are doing in the Department of Health and Human Services, especially in the area of aging and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered peoples needs.  From the office of the Secretary of State we heard the reiteration of our country’s commitment to human rights around the world including those of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.  On a local level, we heard from the mayor of Baltimore about his personal commitment to seeing Transgender people safe and thriving in his city.

I attended workshops and experiences as diverse as relating the chakras to our personal development and the movement for equality, a trans denominational service and how to talk with family and friends about politics, sex and religion with effective compassion.

The most important and deeply alarming information I received at the conference, was that there are state laws that have been passed and more proposed, that will result in suppressing the vote of up to 5 million people.  These laws relate to new requirements for identification to register to  vote and to vote at the ballot box and these regulations affect those who are most likely to vote in a socially progressive way.  For example, in Florida when President Obama was elected there were 500,000 votes that were placed by those who had served prison time.  A new law in Florida would exempt these people who have paid their debt to society from participating as voters.  In another law that was passed in a southern state, an African American woman in her eighties was denied the right to vote after having done so faithfully for more than 50 years, because she could not produce an original version of her birth certificate! (It had burned in a fire some years earlier and was unavailable to her).  I am moved to learn more about these laws and do my part this election year to make sure they don’t meet their apparent purpose.

The message about voter suppression, and the recognition that our LGBT equality movement is not just about marriage but about immigration, jobs, housing, healthcare, poverty, homelessness, incarceration, adoption,social security and other long term spousal benefits— came from two sources.  The leader of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, who eloquently and fiercely called us to action and the leader of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.  This historic unity, of two civil rights leaders, demonstrating engagement,  friendship, respect and passion for each others commitments and concerns was a shattering of segregation and a bringing in of the beloved community of which Dr. King spoke in a way I never imagined in my life time.

Immersed in an environment of thousands of people (a majority of them under 25),  I saw the leaders of leather nation, Indian nations, the state department, faith leaders, corporate leaders all under the same roof for the same reason. We were all present to gain more understanding and to clarify our personal and collective actions.  While there we experienced true, ‘radical’ inclusion. The meeting floors had entirely gender neutral restrooms, there were hospitality suites for different ethnicitys, religions, physical abilities and gender identity and expression.  There was a room for prayer and for meditation, a Shabbat service, a Muslim Friday prayer, the calling of the names of those we have lost… If any one wants to know what true inclusion looks like this is the place to be.

My heart and mind are full and I have been made better by this experience.  Seeing the ‘angels of our better nature’ in over 3000 people is beyond inspiring, it is a shining light on what is possible for our future.  There is a final image I am left with: a young man receiving the youth leadership award even as he fears deportation says “ I accept this award but all I can think about is all those who wanted to be here but could not be here because they are undocumented and afraid, this is an equality movement issue, please don’t call us illegal, no human being is illegal. “ And he took his award and his standing ovation and went back to fighting for the rights of those who only want to be free.