In these screen shots from the Empire State Pride Agenda’s training video about how to lobby legislators, Pride Agenda staff members give tips on what to say and how to dialogue.
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By KERRY ELEVELD
Friday, April 06, 2007
The Empire State Pride Agenda is gearing up for this year’s Equality and Justice Day with a new training video designed to teach people what to say when they meet with their legislators. On Equality and Justice Day, Tuesday, May 1, hundreds of activists will travel to Albany to speak with lawmakers about LGBT issues.
“We got a lot of input last year that people really wanted better training on how to lobby their legislators as opposed to us talking them through it from the podium the day of Equality and Justice Day,” said Joe Tarver, director of communications for the Pride Agenda. “People shouldn’t be afraid of lobbying their legislators, but there are several important things to keep in mind when you do it.”
The 12-minute video will provide tips on what people should do in a meeting, how to structure it, examples of good and bad dialogue, and how to make “the ask” at the end of a meeting. The video is due to be finished sometime next week, and Tarver said they plan to post it on YouTube so “activists from around the state who are planning on attending can just go to YouTube and watch it from their home.” The video will also be shown to people who ride the buses up to Albany so they can prepare along the way.
Last year, the Pride Agenda posted record attendance with about 600 activists showing up on lobby day to speak with their legislators about gay and lesbians issues. But over half of the attendees registered in the last two weeks, which made it difficult to schedule meetings with legislators. “We can’t just pick up the phone and ask for a meeting with a legislator a few days before we show up,” Tarver said.
This year, the Pride Agenda is making a big push to get people signed up by a deadline of April 13 in order to guarantee people a meeting with their legislators.
They are also trying to improve upon last year’s numbers in order to give legislators a sense of urgency on the LGBT bills before them.
“Obviously, we want more people than last year. We have several bills now with more support than they’ve ever had,” said Tarver, referring to the Gender Expression Nondiscrimination Act (GENDA), the anti-bullying Dignity for All Students Act, and the forthcoming marriage equality bill. “It’s also the first year back in Albany after the marriage decision last year,” he said of the high court’s 4–2 decision last summer against the right of same-sex couples to marry in New York.
Already, the registrations are running ahead of where they were at this time last year. “It’s time to act. We need to take that message to Albany and remind our legislators that it’s time to act on our issues,” said Tarver. “They need to see us there—legislators remember who shows up in their offices to lobby.”
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