What Can We Do Now?

One good thing to come from the Constitutional Amendment #1 battle has been the strengthening of the LGBT communities throughout Louisiana. Statewide, LGBT individuals and their friends have worked together to educate their communities on the need to defeat this amendment. By coming together to raise money and awareness, we have made our issues known. We have built the infrastructure that will allow our voice to be heard.

True, some groups in the state have just begun to work together and other groups have long lists of accomplishments, but each group must continue to stay active in their communities and reach out to new members. It should become an important goal of each organization to continue to grow and to educate on the civil inequalities that their LGBT communities face. Remaining active in our communities will strengthen our organizations.

The new year will bring opportunities for groups throughout Louisiana to work together. We will be able to test and to exercise our organizations’ ability to educate communities and legislators as we work to secure just and fair legislation in the upcoming legislative session. A great tool to master is the easy to use Louisiana Legislative website. Please use this address to follow the actions of legislators and legislation progress. www.legis.state.la.us Effective education skills will help others to view our legislation clearly and accurately. This will be no small task, as we have seen with the Amendment # 1 battle. We must continue to build relationships with our local media and elected officials.

If you are not currently active in your local LGBT or LGBT friendly organization, please consider joining one now. If you are unsure about the groups in your community, please contact us. We are working with several groups throughout the state and should be able to help you locate a group near you. It is important that we build on our organizational success and focus our energy towards future projects. Let’s not forget that old saw, use it or lose it.