Transgender activists will converge on Capitol Hill on May 18 – 20, 2005 to
lobby Congress once again for passage of transgender-inclusive hate crimes
and employment nondiscrimination legislation. Lobby Days 2005 is sponsored
by the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC), the country's largest
and most active organization advocating for the rights of transgender
Americans at federal, state, and local levels.
Participants are expected from all over the country and will likely include
victims of anti-transgender hate crimes and those who have personal
experience with employment and other types of transgender bias and
discrimination. NTAC and the National Center for Transgender Equality will
help attendees arrange meetings with their senators and representatives and
staff members.
Marisa Richmond, Chair of the NTAC Lobbying Committee, noted that 30
lobbyists from around the country visited 81 Senate offices and 236 House
offices in April 2004 to discuss the need for transgender inclusion in
pending civil rights legislation. “This effort played an important role in
identifying potential supporters of transgender inclusion in ENDA and LLEEA,”
she said. “This information was vital to the coordinated effort by
transactivists in getting HRC to adopt a new trans-inclusive policy towards
ENDA. We look forward to maintaining the momentum in 2005.”
One major difference in the 2005 lobbying effort is the recent decision of
the Human Rights Campaign decision to support only a transgender-inclusive
Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA). It is essential to have
demonstrably significant numbers of concerned community activists and
supporters working together to educate their elected representatives on
these vital issues. The need has never been greater, and HRC support can
improve our reception in Congress.
"Since 1999, NTAC has been advocating in support of equality for the
transgender community," said Vanessa Edwards Foster, chair and co-founder of
NTAC. "We may well be on the edge of a new era for our community, an era of
unfettered accomplishment in our fight for civil rights. It's essential that
NTAC and the transgender community are distinctly visible and a key part of
this effort towards our equality."
NTAC will hold a plenary session for training and assignments on May
18th. The plenary will consist of a brief lobbyist training session,
review of handouts to be discussed and left at each office visited, and
assignments for May 19th and 20th. Participants will have the opportunity
to meet and interact with many transgender and trans-supportive activists
and representatives from organizations working toward fully inclusive
federal hate crimes and civil rights protections and to participate in other
Lobby Days events and actions to be announced.
Registration and hotel information will be linked to the NTAC website (
http://www.ntac.org)
when details become available. In the meanwhile, those with questions about
joining this grassroots lobbying effort can write to (
lobbying@ntac.org).
As done in 2004, NTAC and the Transgender American Veterans Association (TAVA)
are coordinating dates for their 2005 Washington, DC spring events. The
second TAVA national gathering of transgender veterans, some of whom are
also NTAC members, is scheduled to begin after NTAC lobbying ends on May
20. The TAVA event will include visits to veterans memorials on the
National Mall and in Arlington, VA.
You can make a difference, for yourself, your family, and your community.
Join your brother and sister transgendered American activists, veterans,
family, friends, and supporters in speaking truth to our leaders and working
for a truly equal America for us all. Your support, your voice, and your
active participation will make a difference.
Founded in 1999, NTAC - the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition - is a
501(c)(4) civil rights organization working to establish and maintain the
right of all transgendered, intersexed, and gender-variant people to live
and work without fear of violence or discrimination.
