HRC Blog

By Anthony Hayes, HRC's Northeast Regional Field Director: In the city that never sleeps, the LGBT community in New York City knows there is no time for sleeping when it comes to the fight for Equality.  From writing letters to NY State Senators to canvassing in upstate New York, this weekend was packed with grass roots efforts to help make a difference. On Friday night in Astoria Queens, Joleen and Julie, a couple who hope to one day be "married in their home state", hosted a letter-writing party to help educate and persuade their state senator to vote yes on a same-sex marriage bill.  Around 25 people showed up to hear from Empire State Pride Agenda's Matthew Brunner and HRC's northeast regional field organizer Anthony Hayes on what they could do to help pass pro-equality legislation in NY.  Matthew Brunner educated the group on three key pieces of legislation: same-sex marriage bill, Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA), and Dignity for All Students Act. After hearing from Matthew, the group picked up their pens and started writing a letter to their senator.  Each person took the time to explain why these pieces of legislation are important to them, and also why there is no room for discrimination in the great state of New York. Many of our participants will be joining us on Tuesday April 28th when Empire State Pride Agenda will host Equality and Justice Day in Albany.  Equality and Justice Day is the time for constituents to talk face to face with their leaders about these three pieces of legislation.  It is a day when we need everyone to take off from work and join us.  HRC, Broadway Impact, Marriage Equality NY and others will rally with Empire State Pride Agenda to make Equality and Justice Day the most successful lobby day in our community’s history.  We are encouraging all HRC members to attend.  If you have not signed up, please contact Anthony Hayes at [email protected]. With little sleep, Cicely Wootan, Ibby Carothers, Dakin Parker, Jason Haas and Anthony Hayes jumped into a car and headed north to canvass for a congressional candidate.  It was a mix of first-time canvassers and veterans from HRC's 2008 Camp Equality political training that was hosted in Huntington Long Island. This band of 5 knows how important it is to continue the hard work of elect fair-minded candidates to office. Our team of volunteers spoke to over 70 voters and knocked on nearly 260 doors.  Election Day is Tuesday, March 31st and we can make a difference in this race! Together we will build on our success in 2008 and keep moving equality forward in 2009!