By Gina Read
After the monumental losses of Proposition 8 in California and 102 in Arizona, over two hundred members of the LGBT and
allied communities gathered to discuss the upcoming legislative session and voice what issues were of utmost importance to them.

Keynote speaker Peri Jude Radecic, Executive Director, Arizona Center for Disability Law, stressed resilience, reaching out to other organizations and communities, and most importantly; no in-fighting. "Our community endured a fundamental loss... But, when we have suffered losses before did we sit back? No. We turned our losses into opportunities and laid the foundation for the success we have seen. We have challenges, but ours is not the only community facing challenges. We must reach out to those communities and see how we can help them. Above all else we must not have a divisive community. It is okay to disagree, but
we must not stab each other in the back. The fracturing has to stop." Hosted by Equality Arizona, Human Rights Campaign, Northern Arizona Pride Association, ACLU of Arizona, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona, Prescott Pride Center and Wingspan the event had a two-fold purpose, to allow community members to address and voice concerns from the past election, and to get input on where the community goes from here.
Panelists Barbara McCullough-Jones of
Equality Arizona, Cynthia Leigh Lewis
of HRC, Ken Jacobs of the Pima County
Democratic Party, Frankie Reynolds of the
Prescott Community Center, and Jason
Cianciotto of Wingspan answered questions
and listened to people's concerns.
Although the majority of participants were
interested in marriage rights, it quickly
became apparent that there were other issues
that were equally if not more pressing for the
community.
A trans-identified woman expressed her
concern for workplace protections. "Marriage
is not the biggest issue facing the transcommunity.
For the trans person who gets
fired, it is a death sentence."
Still for another audience member not
knowing if the state would continue to
provide benefits for its employees in domestic
partnerships was of vital concern.
Strategies were also discussed during the
session.
Reynolds brought up that a "one strategy
fits all" was not plausible. "Coming from
rural Arizona I know that an in-your-face
approach turns people off. For us protesting
is not a good option."
Agreeing with Reynolds, Cianciotto said that
being in Tucson, where protests are common,
Wingspan sometimes has a skewed view of
what needs to happen to create across state
movements. "It has been easy for us given
Pima County's demographics; we lose sight
as to what it takes to create statewide change.
This is the first time since I have been here
that I have seen something like this happen
with so many parts of the state represented. I
think that shows how far we have to go, but
it begins here."
All the panelists agreed that no matter what
the issue the one strategy that was vital for
everyone was for LGBT people to get to
know their legislators. "It is much harder to
vote against someone when you can put a face
to that measure or bill," stated Lewis.
After the panel discussion attendees could
choose to participate in brainstorming
sessions that included Campaign Strategies,
Politics and Religion, Becoming a Citizen
Lobbyist and more.
Asked what she hoped to gain from the Town
Hall, McCullough-Jones stated:
"I think a sense of consensus from the community
about their ideas and what is important
to them. Certainly for our community to
understand viable ways that they can plug
into the many issues that are already being
addressed around the state, strategies that are
already in play, and ways for them to make a
difference."
Lewis shared some of McCullough-Jones'
thoughts.
"Everyone's hope is that we can come up
with a consensus strategy about how to move
forward given the 2009-2010 legislative
climate, which we know is going to be less
than favorable to the community. I think we
have to come together and figure out how to
hold ground, and identify viable candidates to
run for the legislature in 2010," said Lewis.
According to McCullough-Jones, the next
step is to create a statewide leadership roundtable.
"We need to bring the core issues that
the community feels are most important,
bring in the core people that represent them,
such as established organizations, grassroots
organizers and allies. We bring all of them
together and decide who is best suited to do
this item, and who has the capacity to tackle
this or that issue. Bottom line, we must all
work together if we want to obtain equality."

Copyright 'N Touch Magazine - January 2009 Issue #54

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