Me with Paul Guequierre, HRC Deputy Press Secretary

With 750,000 members and supporters world-wide, the Human Rights Campaign is the largest national lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization in the country. I was fortunate enough to conclude this tour by interviewing  Paul Guequierre, HRC’s Deputy Communications Director,  about HRC successes and challenges.

According to Paul, the biggest success for HRC over the past year has been the repeal of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. Under the policy around 14,000 sevicemembers were discharged from the military – including some 800 “Mission Critical” personnel. HRC and their partners waged campaign against Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) for years. One very visible tactic employed in the past year was the “Voices of Honor” tour HRC executed in partnership with Servicemembers United. The tour crossed the country stopping in 50 cities to hold events supporting the repeal of DADT. It concluded with a “Veterans Lobby Day” that was co-sponsored by over 70 other organizations where members and supporters talked to their legislators.

Like NRA, HRC also has a large presence in social media. They have over 750,000 supporters on Facebook and 39,000 followers on Twitter. In addition, mobile applications are also part of the advocacy group’s tool bag. For example, an allied group, Servicemembers United, produced a “Repeal DADT” iPhone app in conjuction with the “Voices of Honor” tour. Additionally, HRC has released its own iPhone app, “Buying for Workplace Equality” that helps shoppers purchase products form companies that support LGBT workplace equality.

The HRC iPhone App

HRC has several goals for the coming year. Marriage equality issues are going to be important in several states this year. In addition, a version of the Employment Non-discrimination Act (ENDA) has been introduced in the House of Representatives in April. The bill would protect employees from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. However, some members of the LGBT community view introduction of ENDA as largely symbolic as a version has been introduced in Congress every year except one since 1994.

For Paul, working at HRC has given him a broader view of the issues. As a gay man he was aware of the many issues facing the LGBT community in his home state of Wisconsin, but working for a national lobbying group in DC has given him a much broader perspective.

Interview #7: Glen Caroline, NRA-ILA Grassroots Activism (Fairfax, VA)

NRA Headquarters Building in Fairfax, VA

Most of the organizations I’ve met with during this journey have been on the medium to small end of the spectrum. But in moving on to  Washington DC, I’d hoped to see and share what organizing was like at the opposite end of the spectrum. From the moment I approached headquarters building of the National Rifle Association (NRA) I knew the organization was operating at larger level than the previous interviews. The building itself is massive, a feeling reinforced by my accidentally trying to enter the tower that houses the National Firearms Museum instead of the main office for the interview.

NRA Headquarters is located in Fairfax, VA, just outside of Washington, DC. At first it seemed strange that the headquarters for such a powerful group would be located outside DC. But employees are allowed to bring their own firearms to work, and the building houses the aforementioned Firearms Museum and a live shooting range. All of this is an environment that would be difficult to impossible to recreate inside DC, a city that has fought for extremely tight gun regulation.

Glen Caroline, Director NRA-ILA Grassroots Activism

Glen Caroline, NRA-ILA Grassroots Activism Director was happy to sit for the interview and share more about how the NRA is so effective at achieving results. First, the NRA has a wide variety of tools to inform and mobilize the public. That mobilization effort is organized by the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) which acts as the lobbying arm of the NRA.

In this age, if you’re engaging the public a good website a mandatory tool. ILA has perhaps the most informative interest group website I have reviewed. If a NRA member or supporter has any questions about federal or state gun regulation efforts, the ILA’s website (http://www.nraila.org) is a great resource. Of course people are able to join NRA and sign up for email alerts as well from the site. Although the site is very informative, Glen revealed that they’re currently working to improve the site’s usability. For the casual visitor the sheer volume of information available may be disorienting.

ILA takes their work far beyond their own website. They have been very successful using social media to engage supporters as well. ILA boasts nearly 260,000 members in their Facebook group (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2246211058) and nearly 8,000 Twitter followers (http://twitter.com/nraila). So that in addition to email action alerts, supporters can get updates from the group across multiple channels of communication. According to Glen, “We can’t expect everybody to do everything, but by providing more options we have to make sure everybody does something.”

NRA-ILA Action Manual

During college I worked as an intern for my Senator from Illinois and during that time I was impressed with the way the Senator’s office could handle the mountain of correspondence from constituents. If anyone in the state had a question the Senator’s office could reply to each individual with a position paper on nearly every issue. Powerfully, the NRA has the same capability to respond to its national constituency with informational material on nearly every issue as well. And beyond just informing users, they also have tools to help their constituents engage those issues. Not sure how to contact your legislator or the media about an issue? Ask for a copy of their “Election & Legislative Action Manual” a CD-ROM the NRA can provide members to help them become effective advocate.

While all of these tools are impressive, Glenn stresses the importance of making personal connections. Developing personal relationships with members and supporters is a priority that is enhanced by the tools at NRA’s disposal not replaced by them. One new way NRA accomplishes this is through NRA University. NRA University enables students who want to become more effective at advocating pro-gun positions to have NRA professionals come to their campus and conduct one-day training sessions. These sessions not only help students but also help the NRA develop those personal connections that are necessary for any advocacy organization.

During my short time at the NRA I’m sure I only got to see a fraction of what they do to advocate for their legislative priorities. That said, the operation is impressive and I’m sure other organizations could learn a lot from how the NRA effectively uses it’s resources to keep their members and supporters engaged in their mission.

At the Factory Fire Site

After leaving Boston we just happened to stop in New York City on the weekend of the 100th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. I can’t take credit for remembering to go to the event. I’m thankful that we happened to be walking with a friend in Manhattan who insisted we stop by the building where the incident took place.

Here, the day after the anniversary there was still a crowd gathered to memorialize the 146 workers who died in the fire 100 years ago. The incident itself acted as a catalyst for the organization of the labor movement in the US and workplace safety regulation.   Considering the numerous advocacy groups we are interviewing on this trip, I am very grateful to my friend Mark for taking us to this spot so I could learn about the tragedy.

Interview #6: Tom Smith, Justice @ Work (Boston, MA)

Tom Smith, Justice @ Work

Organizing direct action campaigns is only one side of advocacy work. Groups working to change the current power structure often need legal assistance and that is where Justice at Work fits in. Justice at Work (J@W) helps low-wage workers in Eastern Massachusetts who face situations where employers have not fulfilled their obligations to pay for services rendered. In order to help these workers J@W has partnered with the Immigrant Worker Center Collaborative (IWCC), a collection of immigrant rights groups, to help their clients with legal issues. Workers may chose to file legal cases against the employers or organize rallies and protests against those employers to draw public attention to the employers poor practices. J@W will help the IWCC and their workers ensure their cases are file appropriately and any direct action campaign is conducted in a legal matter.

Labor Mural used by J@W

Tom is also has a huge interest in organizing direct action campaigns which is generally the work of the front-line groups of the IWCC. And although he has spent a lot of time participating in social action campaigns as well as learning about organizing, he and J@W are learning how to balance those skills with the needs of the community. Tom as 6’ 3” tall, blond, white lawyer easily stands out in the crowd of predominately-immigrant groups he works with. The struggle is to not be viewed as “outsider” trying to lead a community in their organizing efforts, but to use his interests and skills to build up the leadership within the community. J@W does this by providing the supporting legal advice to the front-line groups.

Me trying to smile and pretend that I'm enjoying this picture.

After a long day of meeting with the several student groups at Notre Dame, we packed in the car to continue east. The weather had turned noticeably colder since getting to the midwest and proceeded to get worse as we headed to Boston. We planned a brief detour to hit Niagara Fall as it is almost on the way to Boston. Unfortunately, we ran into two big problems enjoying Niagara Fall:

1. It just got unreasonably cold and snowy as we got to New York state. How cold? It was snowy and therefore unreasonably cold for three people driving from San Diego.
2. We were too exhausted to see Niagara Fall.

The second problem at first became the bigger issue as we paid our fee, parked in the parking lot, and without saying a word to each other promptly fell asleep in the car for the next hour or so. In fact we only got out of the car once the interior had gotten cold enough to demand our exit.

I think people can spend a few hours seeing the various parts of the Falls – maybe even crossing over to the Canadian side. We wouldn’t know. We were terribly disappointed at what must have been a design flaw kept the visitor’s center far enough from the actual Falls that one has to got OUTSIDE to view them!  After 20 minutes (or maybe it was 5 minutes that felt longer) outside we ran back to the visitor’s center with photographic proof that we had been to the Falls.

John Entering New York

Interview #5: Students of the University of Notre Dame (South Bend, IN)

Students Present the Petition to the Office of the University President

“The University of Notre Dame does not discriminate on the basis of race/ethnicity, color, national origin, sex, disability, veteran status, or age in the administration of any of its employment, educational programs, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, athletics, recreational, and other school-administered programs.”

Many people may read the first line of the policy above and gloss over the list of protected groups without much interest. However, if you are concerned the University might discriminate against you based on your sexual orientation, the omission from the university’s non-discrimination policy appears glaring and intentional.

The Coalition

My plan for Notre Dame (my alma matter) was to meet with the student group advocating LGBT rights at what is arguably THE flagship of Catholic education in America. But the reality upon getting to Notre Dame made for a much more complex issue.  Here is a quick list of the main actors on campus:

• OutreachND: A student-run LGBT group not officially recognized by the University. As an unrecognized group OutreachND has no access to University resources (such as student group funding or classrooms for meeting spaces)
• AllianceND: A student-run Gay-Straight Alliance not recognized by the University.
• Progressive Student Alliance (PSA): A student-run group that IS recognized by the university that advocates more generally for progressive issues.
• Gay and Lesbian Alumni of Notre Dame & Saint Mary’s (GALA-ND/SMC): An unofficial alumni group of the University that provides support ($) for OutreachND and AllianceND
• Core Council for Gay & Lesbian Students (Core Council): A committee established by the University to serve the needs of the LGBT community at Notre Dame.

Instead of one group being the focal point for the issue, there is a whole network of students and faculty at Notre Dame that have been working to make the University a more welcoming place for LGBT people. The fight involves two main objectives:

• Having the University to add “sexual orientation” to the non-discrimination policy and,
• Getting the University to recognize a LGBT student-run group.

Progress Has Been Slow

Unfortunately, over the past 15 years the progress toward these goals has stalled out. Nearly every year OutreachND and/or AllianceND will apply for university recognition as a student club. Every year the University will deny club status citing potential inconsistencies with Catholic teaching as well as citing the existence of Core Council. And every year GALA will provide support and funding for OutreachND and AllianceND through other channels.

Tools and Tactics

Also, on a regular basis PSA works to support these efforts. This year, as in past years PSA has organized a petition to send to the University for the modification of the non-discrimination clause and recognition of AllianceND (OutreachND did not apply this year). In addition to petitions, the coalition of groups hold rallies, create T-shirts, and hold information sessions to educate and engage the Notre Dame community.

For the students, Facebook has been a revolutionary tool to aid their organizing efforts. Being able to create events on the site and invite friends to the event has been a very effective way to engage other students in their cause.

PSA Members Protest the School of the Americas

And even though the progress toward these goals has stalled, students working on the issue are becoming more sophisticated in their organizing efforts. Where before the students alone would brainstorm the tactics to use and set the agenda for each year, recently they have been plugging into other resources. This past year began with some students sitting down with professional labor organizers to learn more about how to run successful campaigns. Upperclass students have also enrolled in related university courses, such as those provided at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, to become better advocates for social change. The challenge for students is to ensure that as the seniors leave, the younger students have also had similar training to become effective leaders.

Hugh Espey and Me at Iowa CCI

I have a friend who attended the recent National People’s Action conference in Washington D.C. and during that gathering met some very dynamic people from Iowa. After a few emails, I was able to get in contact with the group, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (CCI) and set up an interview with Hugh Espey, their Executive Director.

Walking into the Iowa CCI main conference room, you could tell that this is not just a group that works on policy issues, but focuses on direct action. The walls are covered with calendars of action dates, lists of “To Dos” assigned to different people, photographs of previous successful rallies and events, and inspirational quotes. It looked like the command center of a movement – and that’s exactly what the Iowa CCI building is.

Looking at Hugh Espey’s background, you would not assume he’d become a social activist. “My parents were Goldwater Republicans and I voted for Nixon in ’72 – before I knew better,” he says. But perhaps it was a rebellion against that background that lead him to work in a juvenile detention center. After a year of working with kids going into or coming out of the juvenile justice system he was looking for different work. Fortunately, he came across an announcemnt for an opening at CCI. “It was just a matter of being at the right place at the right time.” And he’s been at CCI ever since.

Iowa CCI mobilizes people in Iowa across five different issue areas:

• Farming & the Environment
• Housing & Financial Security
• Immigrant Rights
• Neighborhood-based Issues
• Voter-Owned Elections

Iowa CCI Building

Iowa CCI’s most recent successes have been in the area of Farming. CCI is working to curb the negative impacts of huge factory farms in Iowa. In 2008 the group successfully campaigned for the passage of a state law to restrict factory farms from spreading liquid manure on frozen snow-covered ground. The wastes from these farms is often more than the environment can tolerate, especially if the ground is frozen – leading to health and environmental problems for animals and people. In 2010 the group successfully defended these restrictions from subsequent legislation that would have “gutted” the previous bill’s restrictions.

Iowa CCI’s achieves these successes through careful organizing strategy. Using a combination of citizen letters, phone calls, rallies, meetings with legislators amongst other tactics they make sure to keep their 3,000+ members informed and engaged on issues important to Iowans. While Hugh’s father was a physician, Hugh doesn’t view his current work as that different. “Dad was a medical doctor, I’m kind of a social doctor.” And he’s working to engage the public to cure the difficult problems facing society.

We had unexpectedly spent 3 days in Denver, and it was time to really start heading east (instead of north). Also, the interviews in those towns were proving more difficult to set up.  We were able to connect with an exciting group in Des Moines, and for the sake of our timetable, we sped straight there.

[Note: I said "sped" but most of the time we drove quite reasonably. Except for one stretch where the police decided to pull the car over for being 12 miles over. Fortunately, our first contact with the police resulted in just a warning.]

Marcia Tewell, Exec. Dir. of the CDDC

After Nevada we passed through southern Utah. I had heard about the Utah Developmental Disabilities Council and wanted to talk to that group about their work. Unfortunately, our route was not taking us through Salt Lake City where they are based. And with the timing of the trip I just couldn’t make that detour work out.

Hoping to connect with a similar organization in Colorado, I was fortunate enough to be able to meet with Marcia Tewell, the Executive Director of the Colorado Developmental Disabilities Council (CDDC). The CDDC works to promote policies that further enable people with developmental disabilities to live more independently, be more productive, and be integrated with their communities.

The CDDC actively works to shape public policy and the day before I met with Marcia she was at the state capitol building giving testimony about Senate Bill 49. The bill would ban the use of “prone restraint” by state employees. Basically, as Marcia explained, when an individual has to be restrained, placing them in a prone position – face down with their hands behind their back is a dangerous technique. People have inadvertently died from suffocation this way.  Temporarily putting someone facedown to restrain them is not banned by the bill. But keeping them in that position is prohibited as it has lead several “needless, inhumane deaths” according to State Senator Suzanne Williams, the bill’s sponsor.

Unfortunately, explains Marcia, “There are several groups that want to be carved out because they are special – because they’re ‘very well trained’ and because ‘they do this the right way’…” such as residential child care facilities. The CDDC believes however, even with highly trained staff people subject to this type of restraint die and therefore no organization should be allowed to use it.

Of course the CDDC is advocates for those with disabilities beyond the issue of Bill 49. In a broader context CDDC has a goal that one day those with disabilities will be fully integrated into society. What does that mean? Well, in our current world often the disabled are segregated in to their own areas. Marcia gives some examples:

• Special Education programs provide a segregated educational experience.
• Sheltered Workshops give the disabled a separate work experience, often for below minimum wage.
• Many times people with developmental disabilities have segregated living situations.
• Even in athletics, the Special Olympics is a separate sporting experience.

Sometimes, the position of the CDDC may put it at odds with other individuals and people involved in the same community. The CDDC’s lack of support for the Special Olympics is one example of that. According to the Special Olympics they create a space where “athletes with intellectual disabilities celebrate and are celebrated for their accomplishments.” However, CDDC objects to creating an essentially segregated athletic environment. Similar debates occur in the areas of employment and education.

Personally, in our interview I began to understand a bit more about the CDDC’s side of the issue. As a minority, Brown v. Board of Education taught me to reject the idea of “separate, but equal.” Yet, I realized that I had unconciously accepted segregation for the developmentally disabled. Perhaps, that’s because often there is sometimes initial discomfort when dealing with the disabled. Getting people to deal with their own discomfort and providing integrated places for everyone to learn, work, live, and play together is a challenge. Which is perhaps why Marcia’s friend once told her, “What you’re promoting  is probably the most difficult thing in the world.”

But now I have found my way to a public library in Illinois where I can spend some time and catch up on trip and the great advocacy groups I’ve been able to interview so far. I’ll start with the arrival in Denver and our interview there.