Building LGBT Political Power in Kalamazoo
By Sarah E. Reece, Project Director, Organizing & Training, August 20, 3:09 pm
This weekend the Task Force is training activists in Kalamazoo, Mich., to defeat an anti-LGBT ballot initiative.
Task Force organizers are working side by side with leaders of Kalamazoo Alliance for Equality and One Kalamazoo to preserve the city’s LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination ordinance.
Opponents of the ordinance are campaigning to repeal it, and have gathered enough signatures to put the issue on November’s ballot.
To equip local community leaders in Kalamazoo with the skills they need to combat their opponents, the Task Force is training dozens of key activists this weekend. The training, an LGBT Power Summit, is an intensive action-oriented training designed to provide activists with the concrete skills, tactics and strategies they need to talk with the public about the issues facing the LGBT community and, most importantly, build grassroots organizations and coalitions that will win critical rights and protections for the LGBT community.
We’re thrilled to be partnering with the terrific local grassroots leaders in Kalamazoo to help the campaign ramp up to the next level!
“The Power Summit will be an invaluable tool as we head into the next two months of aggressive door-to-door campaigning, talking face to face with voters about the non-discrimination ordinance that protects their friends, family and co-workers from being fired from their job, kicked out of their home, or denied public accommodations simply because of who they are,” says Jon Hoadley, One Kalamazoo campaign manager.
One Kalamazoo campaign manager Jon Hoadley speaks with a reporter about the nondiscrimination ordinance. Photo credit: Nick Martinez.
Stay tuned for more updates about our work supporting local community members. This on-the-ground work is part of the Task Force’s commitment to building long-term grassroots political power across the country. So far in 2009, Task Force organizers have worked on the ground in places like California, Iowa, New Jersey, New York, Texas and Washington, D.C.
To get involved with One Kalamazoo, click here.
More about the Task Force’s Power Summits:
Want to share your thoughts about this blog entry?
Send your comments to OutSpoken@theTaskForce.org.
Please let us know how your name should appear and, optionally, your city and state. Comments may be posted on our Web site and used in other Task Force materials.
