Washington Lobby Days

Lobby Days was a great success! They had over 130 attendees from over thirty states.
I visited all my Connecticut legislators and I walked so much between the House Office Building and the Senate Office Building that I got blisters on my feet.
For me it was easy to lobby my Congressmen because they all are so supported of the two bills and all of the aids I talked to said that they believe that the Congressman would co-sponsor the bill. But it still was important that they got to meet someone who is trans to put a human face on the bill.
One of the other lobbyists was the former Largo Florida City Manager Susan Stanton and there was a TV news crew that followed her around filming her and others of the lobbyists from the group, National Center for Transgender Equality, that I was with. Here is the interview that she did for Tampa Bay Channel 10 News.

Transgender groups lobby for protection

By: Mike Deeson

Washington, D.C. - More than 100 transgendered people lobbied Congress for protection from being fired because of gender. Susan Stanton, who is in Washington for the event, stayed away from some of the media circus early in the day when the group began the lobby effort.

While you could tell from some of the looks that their agenda wasn't going to be an easy sell, when they went to see their congressmen, they found some sympathetic ears.

"Discrimination is not right in this country," says Rep. Jan Schakowsky, (D-IL). Schakowsky says she is aware of what happened to Susan Stanton and she will co-sponsor the Employment Non-discrimination Act. "It would include gender identity in there," she says. "You can't discriminate on the basis of gender identity."

Unless Congress passes the law, there will be no recourse against those who discriminate against people like Stanton. That's why Stanton says she's not angry she lost her job.

Saying she holds no animosity, Stanton adds, "I love my community. They [the Largo Commission] were all extremely good elected officials, and I don't know how many other commissioners could have done different, given the situation."

But the situation isn't likely to change anytime soon. Even those who had a good reception from their representatives admit that most in Congress aren't ready to support the idea or bill.

Diana L, who lobbied her Connecticut Congressman, says, "It will be the long haul. I don't think we'll get it passed this year."

Stanton says she didn't come to Capitol Hill Tuesday morning to lobby with the big group, because some members of Congress felt uncomfortable with the intense media coverage. Stanton also maintains that the bigger goal is to get hired in Sarasota to prove she can do as good a job as he did in Largo.

The video link is here

Did you recognize anyone in the film clip?
After we had our pictures taken on the steps of the Capital and I was walking back to the House Office Building the camera crew asked me what my schedule to visit my Congressmen and I told him the I had a 10:30 appointment with my Representative from Connecticut. Well when I turn the corner onto the hall where my Representative’s office is there was the TV crew filming me as I walked down the hall and then when I exited his office they interviewed me.