COMMENTARY

Associate Director of National Teen Leadership Program and L.A. Organizer for Common Cause Vincent Jones gives his thoughts on moving the community forward.

BY VINCENT JONES

By 1969, years of anti-gay sentiment and government-sponsored LGBT persecution reached a boiling point that culminated in the early morning hours of June 28 outside the Stonewall Inn in NYC’s Greenwich Village. Days of riots ensued and inspired a wave of organic street protests, and eventually the formation of the first gay advocacy organization to boldly use “gay” in its name. Fast-forward 40 years and though much has changed, not necessarily all has been for the better. A plethora of groups have sprouted to advocate gay rights yet true grassroots community organizing that leads to lasting change and social victories at the ballot box has declined. To truly advance the cause of gay equality, dramatically increasing the number of grassroots LGBT community organizers is in order.

We can look to the Democratic Party for an example of where the gay community is and where it could be with more grassroots organizers amongst our ranks. Howard Dean, an early frontrunner in the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination and pioneer in Internet political fundraising, realized the potential of peer-to-peer organizing, particularly utilizing new technologies, and blazed a trail that President Barack Obama followed and expanded upon in the hard-won primary battle and to grow the number of “blue states” in the general election. Before 2004, the Democratic Party spent too much time cultivating major donors and bundlers while the Republicans honed their ability to get supporters to organize its peers in their neighborhoods with much success.

Since the end of the ACT UP-style protests in the early ’90s, our community has made a major shift towards a similar brand of “checkbook activism” that dominated the Democratic Party for too long. Instead of marching in the streets or staging strategic media-grabbing political stunts, we goad our friends into buying $200-plus tickets to gala dinners or clubby parties at fancy homes and donate thousands to PACs and candidates to rub elbows with politicians in hopes that they will champion our issues.

The vast majority of our community has been made to feel that they have done their part by making donations, attending events, and recruiting their friends to buy tickets to fundraisers. By supporting great organizations doing great work, most surmise, they’re making an impact.

To make matters worse, many of the people who are best suited to be our community organizers are now senior executives in nonprofit organizations and, by necessity, spend much of their time chasing dollars to fund their important work. Leaders who in a different era would be the ones organizing street protests are now organizing galas, arranging donor appreciation events and developing relationships with foundations.

I’ve done lots of fundraising for nonprofit orgs that serve gay interests and think it’s important that more of us do just that, especially now. I’m concerned, however, that the wane of true person-to-person organizing and coalition-building made the gay community ill-prepared to fight Prop. 8 and the countless other electoral campaigns that have taken away our rights.

James Vellequette, major gifts officer at AIDS Healthcare Foundation, wonders if the shift away from grassroots organizing is due in any part to the absence of an “existential threat” to give the LGBT community a singular focus. “In the ’70s we were fighting to be gay, from about 1982-95 we were fighting to be alive, and now we don't know what we're fighting for," Vellequette opined.

If Vellequette’s view is true, this means our need for more grassroots organizers is that much greater. If we can’t get our own community to understand the obstacles to full equality, we’re going to have a hard time engaging a broader audience. But how do we do this? How does one learn to be a community organizer? I humbly offer a few thoughts.

Everyone should have a mentor. People who have been where you’re trying to go are invaluable resources. Hans Johnson, a communications manager for community and political strategy for Service Employees International Union and president of Progressive Victory, agrees. Johnson lists Bayard Rustin, an openly gay man and key architect of the Civil Rights movement for black Americans, as one of his mentors. “Bayard Rustin remains an important example of true organizing to me personally because of his ability to interweave the labor movement and community organizing,” said Johnson, who has been an activist for reproductive freedom, gay equality and workers’ rights for over 20 years.

Similarly, activist training is essential and opportunities to build skills in this area abound. The sidebar lists just a few options. Trainings specific to racial justice, anti-racism or diversity aren’t included but should be a priority. Each of us must take stock of ourselves and decide which type of development in this area is best and then seek out training best suited for your personal situation. This goes for nonwhites too. All of us are shackled by the burdens of race in America. As this country becomes more diverse, it’ll become more important for us to be adept at organizing diverse communities of people.

And when all is said in done, you’ve got to get out there and get dirty. You’re going to have to knock on doors, volunteer at phone banks and show up at rallies and not just for causes that directly impact the LGBT community. You’re going to have to spend time developing true relationships with people you never thought you would have in the past. And this might be the hardest part; you might have to skip a night at O-bar or the Abbey every now and then.

Vallerie Wagner, a veteran activist that has been organizing in the black community in general and among LGBTs in particular, is encouraged by the recent surge in grassroots activism but hopes emerging leaders learn from past struggles. “I don’t know that activism today needs to be as aggressive as it was in the days when we were protesting plans to quarantine HIV-positive people in California,” said Wagner who is a board member of both the Jordan Rustin Coalition and the National Black Justice Coalition. “But it definitely needs to be stepped up several notches and done with more forethought so that we don’t have to spend as much time doing damage control.”

Both Wagner and Johnson were clear in their hope that people continued to donate funds to organizations while stepping up their commitment to peer-to-peer engagement, either online or in person. I couldn’t agree with them more. The passage of Prop. 8 and the other anti-gay ballot initiatives in November demonstrate that we still have much work to be done and that’s going to require boots on the ground and lots of resources to support their endeavors. But, I’m optimistic that history is on our side if we couple our community’s proficiency to raise money with a deeper commitment to grassroots organizing.

Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund
victoryfund.org
1133 15th St. NW, Suite 350, Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202/VICTORY Fax: 202/289-3863
The organization provides intensive training for LGBT people that are interested in running for elected office or working on political campaigns. Skills learned in workshops during the day are applied at night, as participants are put into groups tasked with designing a comprehensive campaign plan.

Creating Change: National Conference on LGBT Equality
thetaskforce.org/events/creating_change
creatingchange@thetaskforce.org
Phone: 202/639-6333
An action-oriented conference that brings LGBT activists together from across the country to learn the basics of organizing or to add to the tools in their tool kit. The venue varies each year but it continues to be the premier event for people serious about improving their ability to organize.

SPIN Academy
spinproject.org
149 Natoma St., 2nd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105
Phone: 415/227-4200 Fax: 415/227-4633
A five-day working retreat on an idyllic ranch in Northern California for leaders of social justice-oriented nonprofit orgs focused on strategic communications. You can learn how activists in other movements have managed to communicate their message to a broader audience and build coalitions with them too.

Wellstone Action
wellstone.org
2446 University Ave. W, Suite 170, St. Paul, MN 55114
Phone: 651/645-3939 Fax: 651/645-5858
Inspired by the late Senator Paul Wellstone and his wife Shiela, Wellstone Action’s weekend training program offers a hands-on skills-building opportunity for anyone interested in grassroots activism. Trainings take place across the country and are especially useful for campaign work.

Center for Progressive Leadership
progressleaders.org
1133 19th St. NW, 9th Floor, Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202/775-2003 Fax: 202/318-0485
It’s a comprehensive long-term training program for the next-generation of progressive leaders. While not focused exclusively on LGBT issues, the Center for Progressive Leadership builds a community of activists across issues that provide support to each other, which can be helpful in building true coalitions.

Camp Courage
couragecampaign.org
CampCourage@CourageCampaign.org
7119 W. Sunset Blvd. Suite 195, Los Angeles, CA 90046
Phone: 323/969-0160 Fax: 323/969-0157
Camp Courage is an intensive one-day training in community organizing techniques for those who are committed to repealing Proposition 8 and restoring marriage equality to California.

AFL-CIO Organizing Institute
aflcio.org/aboutus/oi/main.cfm
Phone: 800/848-3021
Labor unions are the gold standard of peer-to-peer organizing and often provide much support to the LGBT community. The AFL-CIO Organizing Institute runs a highly selective, paid training and placement program to match talented individuals from a variety of backgrounds. Not only will you learn how to organize with limited resources and in difficult environments but you might be able to get a job as a Union Organizer. You don’t have to be in a union to take part in this valuable training.