Lobbying Week May 14th - 18th

For Immediate Release: March 25, 2007
From: The National Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC)
Contact: Media Director, Vanessa Edwards Foster; Houston, Texas
Contact Email: ntacmedia@aol.com
Contact Phone: 832-483-9901
NTAC Chair, Ethan St. Pierre
Contact Email: transfriendly@comcast.com
Contact Phone: 978-373-8898
Website: http://www.ntac.org

Transgender Week on Capitol Hill Complete: NTAC to Lobby May 16-17

Transgender activists will again converge on Capitol Hill in May for another attempt at passing federal transgender-inclusive legislation. The National Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC) has announced its Washington DC dates for direct advocacy with Congress on what’s turning out to be Transgender Lobby Week.

The transgender community is hopeful this year for legislation with explicit protections for the trans community. With conservatives out of power in both houses of Congress, this appears to be the best chance at any type of equal rights enactment for anyone in the GLBT Community.

Building upon the inclusive Hate Crimes legislation that passed the House of Representatives in the last Congress, there may well be the first inclusive legislation on employment non-discrimination as well this session.

This year’s visit by NTAC will be May 16 - 17, with a plenary training session on Tuesday, May 15, 2007. However, NTAC will not be the only group lobbying that week.

“Mara Keisling’s group will be conducting a transgender lobby day on the Hill on Monday and Tuesday,” said recently-elected NTAC Chair Ethan St. Pierre. Meanwhile, “the non-trans members of the community will be lobbying with Riki Wilchins’ group at the end of the same week,” St. Pierre added. “Along with NTAC in the middle of the week,” St. Pierre noted, “the transgender and other-gendered community will be lobbying Congress … the entire week.”

“Members of the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition are looking forward to lobbying for trans-inclusive legislation in the areas of Hate Crimes and Employment non-discrimination,” added NTAC Board Member Marisa Richmond.

Richmond, who chairs NTAC’s Lobbying Committee admitted that both the Hate Crimes and Employment Non-Discrimination legislation “have been major concerns of transgender persons, and NTAC, for a number of years,” adding that “we are optimistic that we will see passage of both [pieces of legislation] in 2007.”

NTAC participants from New England to California will make the trip to the nation’s capital, likely including victims of anti-transgender hate crimes and those with personal experience of employment and other types of transgender discrimination. Since the late ‘90s, NTAC members have been making grassroots forays to the nation’s capital to gain these long sought-after protections.

Now it appears the many years of efforts may be providing a glimmer of opportunity.

NTAC will assist attendees by arranging meetings with their senators, representatives and staff members. Those making the trip will need to make arrangements for travel and lodging, however NTAC will have a hotel in mind and attempt to block out a number of rooms for participants on a first-come, first-served basis.

NTAC has actively advocated at the grassroots level for the rights of transgender Americans at federal, state, and local levels. As always, participants will have the opportunity to meet with many like-minded trans and trans-supportive activists from organizations across the country, working toward fully inclusive federal civil rights laws.

Registration and hotel information for the effort will be linked to the NTAC website (http://www.ntac.org) when details become available. In the meantime, those with questions about joining this grassroots lobbying effort can write to richmondmj@aol.com, or call 615-293-6199 after 6PM CDT.

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Founded in 1999, NTAC - the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition - is a 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.